goblet

This type of object resembles the so-called Birngläser mit Deckeln (pear-shaped glasses with covers), which were cited in an order of 1558. The mold of the lion-mask stem is similar to those found in Salzburg. The lion-mask stem, a generic Venetian glassmaking device, may have found special favor at the Habsburg court because Ferdinand II, as governor of Bohemia, bore its heraldic symbol, the lion. The association of the lion with Hercules and his mythical qualities of strength and invincibility becomes evident in an engraved portrait of the archduke by Terzio, published in 1569, which depicts him with the lion-mask helmet and the knotty club.