Existing comment:
Tankard
ca. 1585
Bohemian, Prague (Czech Republic)
Cranes, such as the one on the lid of this tankard, symbolized alertness, an essential attribute of the wise prince. Princes used objects like these to communicate their personal virtues and those of their realm; no doubt mined in Bohemia, the garnets encircling the tankard demonstrated the land's richness. The princely owner may have believed that the beveled rock crystal, sometimes called "the frozen tears of the gods," would keep the liquid inside cold. |