Getty Museum

Ring Beaker (Ringbecher)

Date

early 17th century

Medium

Free-blown blue-green glass with applied decoration

Culture

German

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

This conical vessel would have been used as a wineglass in the 1600s. The three glass rings suspended from loops attached below the lip had no practical function. They do, however, produce a light "tinkling" sound when the glass is lifted. The drinker would thus have had sensations to please both his palate and his ears. The thick, uneven coils of glass joining the body to the foot pile haphazardly around the vessel. Fragments of similar coil-wound beakers have been found in Germany. Later in the 1600s, their workmanship is usually more orderly.

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