Goldsmiths’ art back in Switzerland after 180 years of traveling the world
Published: Thursday, May 23rd 2024, 11:20
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A gilded silver goblet returns to Schaffhausen. Today, the drinking vessel is considered a masterpiece of European goldsmithing. But 181 years ago, the people of Schaffhausen turned it into money. The story of a long journey almost around the world.
"It only happens once in a lifetime that you can bring such a unique object back to its homeland," enthused Daniel Grütter in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. He is the curator for cultural history at the Museum zu Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. The gilded silver goblet is considered an "extremely important testimony to the medieval culture of Schaffhausen and Switzerland", according to a press release issued by the Museum zu Allerheiligen on Thursday.
"Insignificant and quite dispensable" was the verdict of the Schaffhausen authorities in 1843. Apparently because they needed money, they auctioned off the trophy. The winning bid was placed by a dealer from the neighboring town of Gailingen in Baden.
From South America back to Switzerland
Almost forty years later, the silver goblet reappeared in an English church. It was then bought by the American banker and art collector John Pierpont Morgen (1837-1913), presumably via an art dealer from Frankfurt.
Around 65 years later, in 1945, the goblet from the Piepont collection came into the possession of the French art and antiques dealer Jacques Heft (1891-1980). Heft in turn sold the goblet to a private collector in South America in 1956.
The trophy was then loaned to Schaffhausen for the first time again in 1987, as part of an exhibition. Personal relationships between the Sturzenegger Foundation in Schaffhausen and the South American collector also date back to this time.
It was thanks to these relationships that the collector from South America ultimately decided to sell "this nationally significant piece of cultural and historical importance" to the Sturzenegger Foundation, as Grütter said. Because: "Various American museums have also expressed their interest."
The Sturzenegger Foundation in turn collects works of art and historical objects that are of significance to the city and region of Schaffhausen. Grütter did not want to reveal how much the foundation spent on the trophy. Only: "Pieces like this don't go on sale. The price was a matter of negotiation between the dealer and the foundation." Their collection is on permanent loan to the Museum zu Allerheiligen, among others.
This is also the case with the gilded silver goblet: the bulbous vessel stands on a foot with a handle attached to the side and a lid with an attachment in the shape of a city wall; the lid can also be used upside down as a drinking bowl, with the same attachment as a foot. The entire double goblet is 31 centimetres high and weighs 1.5 kilograms. "Relatively large for such a vessel," says Grütter.
The vessel is also unique in the whole of Switzerland because it is urban. According to Grütter, this is indicated not least by the top in the shape of a city wall. "So it has no sacred significance, which makes it special."
For the ceremonial wedding drink
Grütter and his colleagues assume that goldsmiths from Schaffhausen produced the gold-plated silver goblet around the year 1500. According to Grütter, Schaffhausen was a center of gold and silversmithing at this time.
A list in the Schaffhausen archives provides information about what the goblet was used for: in 1705, the "Inventarium und Beschreibung über dess Klosters Allerheiligen legend und fahrender Haab und Gütheren" (Inventory and description of the monastery of All Saints and its mobile houses and goods) mentions the "Bächer, worshipping the wine at weddings". With its two drinking bowls, the goblet was seen by people at the time as a symbol of the marriage bond. The bridal couple and their guests were served the ceremonial wedding drink from the goblet.
So now the showpiece is back in Schaffhausen. On Thursday, the Museum zu Allerheiligen presented it to the media. And from June 1, it will be part of the museum's permanent exhibition.
©Keystone/SDA
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