St George and the Dragon drinking vessel

Description

Among figurative pieces of table decoration this disguised drinking vessel is particularly outstanding for its virtuoso design and realistic representation. The wide range of decorative techniques and motifs that are employed in the treatment of the surfaces is impressive, and especially the effective use of gilding. The group of armour clad knight, rearing horse and winged dragon stands on a round, richly embossed pedestal. There is a mechanism concealed inside the base that moved the vessel around the table. The person in front of whom it stopped would remove the horse's head and drink the contents of the body, probably a spiced wine. One would expect to find a playful piece like this in a princely collection of rarities rather than in a bourgeois town like Basle. The Schweizerisches Landesmuseum in Zürich has a replica by the same master.