Existing comment:
Fountain with the coats-of-arms of Ernest Augustus, bishop of Osnabrück and duke of York surmounted by a unicorn
ca. 1716–25
Probably by Johann Wilhelm Voigt I
These fountains and basins belong to a silver service made between 1705 and 1725 for two members of the royal Hanover family of Germany, who controlled large parts of the silver-rich Harz Mountains: George Louis, Prince Elector of Hanover (future King George I of Great Britain), and Ernest Augustus, Prince Bishop of Osnabrück (later Duke of York and Albany). The monumental vessels functioned as display items and held cold water for rinsing glasses or chilling beverages at celebrations. The ungilded silver and sober design would * have projected the values of thrift, stability, and seriousness appropriate to a Protestant monarch, but the combined weight of the set equaled that of almost 1,900 thalers -- a stunning amount during a time when a university professor earned 400 thalers a year and a court clockmaker only 200. |