Getty Museum

Thick-Walled Beaker (Unzerbrechlicher Becher)

Date

1643

Medium

Free-blown emerald-green glass with applied decoration and diamond-point engraving

Culture

German

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

The inscription engraved around the rim explains the purpose of this glass: *Trinck mich auss und wirff Nider. Hebb mich auff und vill mich wider Anno 1643.* (Drink me dry and throw me down. Pick me up and fill me again. Year 1643.) This beaker is one of a group of so called *Unzerbrechlichgläser* (unbreakable glasses), all of which are engraved with variants of the same inscription. They were probably used for raucous toasting, where their thick foot and sides would protect them when they were slammed down on a table. Raspberry prunts, each with a central, molded star, decorate the vessel's body. One contemporary observer noted: "Now days one applies buttons, prunts and rings to glasses to make them sturdier. Thus they can be held more easily in the hands of drunken and clumsy people."

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