coconut cup with lid, unknown maker from the Netherlands

Archive Label 2003:
Carved coconuts mounted in silver and used as goblets or cups became fashionable with wealthy Europeans in the sixteenth century, when great numbers and varieties of coconuts were imported to Europe from tropical lands. Often coconut cups were used as wedding gifts or were depicted in still life paintings.

This cup shows three scenes from classical antiquity. The cup depicts Pyramus and Thisbe, young lovers torn apart by hatred and misfortune; Dionysus, the god of wine, seated on a wine barrel; and the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths that occurred at the wedding of King Peirithous when the drunken Centaurs attempted to carry off the Lapith women.