German Beer Tankard, Sixteenth Century, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in colors, from Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance, lettered "PÔT A BIÈRE ALLEMAND (XVIe SIÈCLE)". It shows a single tall lidded tankard with a tapering body, printed in strong blue with gold scrolling foliage and a bold pattern of interlaced white strapwork, set between brown gold bands at the rim and the foot. The flat lid carries the same strapwork and is crowned by a figure group: a standing woman in a blue gown and a kneeling child, together holding a large ornamented shield. The handle is formed of two intertwined serpents, one white and one blue, both spotted with gold, and on its upper end sits a small child clasping a large oval blue stone topped by a pearl.

The running heads read "LE MOYEN AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." at the upper left and "OBJETS DIVERS" at the upper right. The credits beneath the image are "F. Séré del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier, rue de Seine 57, Paris." and "Kellerhoven lith.", with the caption centered below them. The caption translates as: German beer tankard, sixteenth century. Ferdinand Séré, who directed the illustrations for the whole work, drew this plate himself, and Kellerhoven put it on stone for Lemercier's press in the rue de Seine.

Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, edited the text, and Ferdinand Séré directed the illustrations, which is what the line "F. Séré direxit" on the plates records. The work surveys the customs, trades, sciences, arts and literature of Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and its plates reproduce furniture, metalwork, ceramics, manuscripts and other objects from public and private collections of the time. The plates are chromolithographs, printed in color from a series of stones rather than colored by hand. This plate comes from the fourth volume, issued in 1851.

The strong blue and white of the tankard carries well across a room, and the plate suits a frame on its own or a group of drinking vessels.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.