The form, made in wood and in silver, was particularly prevalent in Scandinavia.
This Norwegian example with three ball and claw feet and a cast lion sejant and sphere thumbpiece provided the top lot at the silver sale at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) on March 31.
Estimated at £800-1200 in west London, the tankard took £14,000 online following a battle between Norwegian collectors.
The form and decoration is typical of those made in Bergen in the final third of the 17th century. Floral baroque ornamentation appeared in Bergen in the 1660s and remained the most popular form of ornament for goldsmith’s work until the end of the century.
This vessel, set to the lid with a gilded Christian IV half krone of 1620, dates from c.1690 and carries the maker’s mark PD for Peder Johannesen Reimers (fl.1670-95). Reimers, the son of Jan Reimers (1610-70), was apprenticed to his father between 1655-60, and entered his masterpiece that allowed him to trade independently in 1670.
A very similar coin-set tankard with comparable embossed decoration by Reimers is in the collection of the Norsk Folkemuseum.
Although a surprising result (the tankard had a hole to one of the feet and other condition issues), this is similar to the price achieved for a tankard by Jan Reimers sold from the Peter Gwynn collection at Sotheby’s in 2001 for £15,750.
