coconut cup with lid

coconut cup with lid , 1546

Where object was made: Habsburg Netherlands (present-day Netherlands)

Material/technique: silver; coconut

Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 25.4 x 8.9 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 10 x 3 1/2 in

Credit line: Gift of Jack Linsky

Accession number: 1958.0119.a,b

On display: Michaelis Gallery

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Empire of Things

As Europeans expanded their trade networks and imperial ambitions across the globe, they returned with exotic objects and transformed these curiosities into works of art. Carved coconuts fashioned into decorative goblets ornamented with gilt silver bases and lids adorned the collections of wealthy households. Considered miraculous objects since Greco-Roman antiquity, during the Renaissance coconuts were associated with the power to neutralize poisoned wine. Scenes from classical antiquity embellish this coconut cup, including the representation of Dionysus, the god of wine.

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.