Ceremonial Drinking
To imbibe communally has held great ritualistic significance throughout our social history, particularly in societies where the seasonal elements are harsher. Tankards, such as lot 215 coming up in the spring Fine Works of Art auction, Tuesday 25 March, were reserved for use at special social and festive occasions, such as the celebration of spring, weddings and other rites of a passage.
This tankard, turned from a single piece of burr birch, with its distinctive scroll handle and hinged cover, secured with a simple but highly effective pin construction, is a prime example. Inside the cup a metal pin or ‘peg’ is still in place to mark the measure of drink that was to be consumed by each participant as the ceremonial drink was passed around. Hence the name ‘peg’ tankard.
The nature of the wood itself is of significance. The burl or burr was highly valued for its pleasing figure, and although the birch tree grows voraciously in Scandinavia, the burl is hard to find, extract and season. The warm glowing patina of the timber, evolving over centuries, is still evident in areas, particularly to the underside, which again is important. There, carefully carved, is the date of 1671 and remarkably the initials SHS. This is quite incredible, as stylistic comparison can readily be drawn to several important tankards from the workshop of (or attributed to) Samuel Halvorsen Fanden, also dated from the mid to late 17th Century.
Samuel was the son of a Norwegian carver, Halvor Fanden, and together they ran an extensive workshop creating some of the best Baroque sculpture. Over this period, the kingdom of Norway was jointly ruled with Denmark, and the Royal Kuntskammer archives in Copenhagen note this workshop’s activity in 1674 and again in the early 18th Century.
An example by Samuel Halvorsen Fanden was sold at Christie’s from the esteemed collection of Syd Levethan (The Longridge Collection, 10 June 2010) for £39,000. Like our tankard the hinged cover is also bordered with fruiting vines, possibly representing hops, and the body with laurel wreath cartouches, the handle with rosettes to the sides. Another example sold at Sotheby’s (see lot 69, December 2010), is a little less elaborate but a closer match also with similar carved laurel cartouches, in this case depicting the four Virtues, a similar handle and rosette configuration, also mounted on robust leafy hop feet, referencing the consumption of ale.
In contrast, the symbolism and narrative of our tankard is somewhat ambiguous, although clearly the characterful figures depict various states of human consumption; each male figure in a varying state of repose (smoking), merriment (feasting with a leg of meat) and drinking. Furthermore, the hinged cover details a monkey as a drummer, playing a horn, possibly a reference to the accompanying music. A similar monkey carved as part of procession of exotic animals encircling the base of a peg tankard was also sold in the Syd Levethan Collection ( Part 2) but from an unknown workshop.
This tankard may or may not be by the direct hand of Fanden, but is most likely to be an example from his busy workshop. It is also from an era of skillful storytelling through objects and ritual, and as such, is an extraordinary survivor.
