beaker

Object NameWindmill Beaker

Made FromNon-lead glass, Silver

Dateabout 1630-1670

Place MadeLow Countries; possibly Amsterdam; possibly Antwerp

TechniqueBlown in optic mold; silver mounts

SizeOverall H: 20.3 cm; Bowl Diam: 12.6 cm

Accession Number79.3.360

Credit LineGift of The Ruth Bryan Strauss Memorial Foundation

Curatorial Area(s)

Early Modern

Exhibitions

Beyond Venice: Glass in Venetian Style, 1500-1750

Glass Drinking Vessels from the Strauss Collection

Matters of Taste: Food and Drink in 17th Century Dutch Art and Life

Not On View

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

Windmill beakers were used for drinking games. By blowing into the tube, the player set the sails spinning, and he or she was required to empty the glass before they stopped. The drinker who failed to do this had to empty the number of additional glasses indicated by the pointer. According to datable windmill beaker made in silver, this type of vessel was popular from the mid-16th century on until the beginning of the 18th century. (see 51.3.280)

Physical DescriptionColorless non-lead glass; blown, pattern-molded; silver mounts. Ribbed, funnel-shaped bowl; mounted with an elaborate silver windmill, with four arms connected to an arrow-shaped pointer, on a disk with engraved numbers, 1 through 6; a human figure leans out of a second-story window, another stands at the top of a long ladder, and two more figures stand on a ladder; an air tube alongside; a flag at the top of the windmill house; mounted on a rod, with three scroll supports; on a cylindrical base, with engraved masonry, and a ribbed, domed top; a circular disk on the inside of the bowl with engraved coat of arms.
Provenance

Former Collection Jerome Strauss (1893-1978) - 1979

Source Ruth Bryan Strauss Memorial Foundation - 1979

Former Collection William Randolph Hearst