Existing comment:
Grotesque wild boar
1603-1609
Caspar Beutmüller the Elder
When Kunstkammer objects were too artistically important to have their silver components melted down, they sometimes evolved into family heirlooms and were protected from being sold. This hybrid boar, bat, and aquatic creature entered the Eltz treasury in 1738, when zoomorphic vessels were fashionable. It has remained in the family's treasury since. Renaissance medical texts ascribed coconuts beneficial powers, which would have been understood to act on the liquid inside the cup. |