The ornamental cup of Veere, one of the most treasured objects in the city in Zeeland, the Netherlands, has delivered historical insights thanks to doctoral research by art historian and goldsmith Hanne Schonkeren of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The unique cup has been carefully housed in Veere’s city hall for centuries, but for a long time there has been little known about its origins.
“It is a masterpiece of goldsmithing, probably manufactured in Antwerp around 1547-1548,” says Schonkeren, part of the History of Art, Architecture and Visual Culture research group at VUB and a specialist in gold and silversmithing. “I observed remarkable similarities between the cup and another, authenticated object from Antwerp, the Founders’ Cup, which is currently at Emmanuel College in Cambridge. Research into the techniques and specific details, such as the moulded lion’s heads on the stem of the cup, show that it probably comes from the same workshop,” she says. “This indicates a close link with the goldsmithing tradition in Antwerp, a centre of excellence in the 16th century.”
The absence of hallmarks, standard practice within guilds, has for a long time caused confusion. “We had suspected for a long time that the cup was possibly an imperial gift, because of the scenes depicted on it and the absence of hallmarks. Because of the similarities with the authenticated Antwerp cup, we now believe that Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned the cup in Antwerp as a gift for his army chief Maximiliaan of Egmont, in gratitude for his support during the German campaign of 1546,” says Schonkeren.
“After the death of Maximiliaan of Egmont, the cup was inherited by his nephew, Maximilian of Burgundy, the first Marquis of Veere, who donated it to the city of Veere, where it is held to this day. Since then, it has been tradition that at the inauguration of the Marquis of Veere, a title held by the House of Orange-Nassau since 1581 and consequently by the reigning king or queen, the marquis drinks from this goblet.”
On 27 August, the Dutch king and queen will use the cup during a visit to the city. The ritual confirms the continuing symbolic value of the cup through the centuries, which, thanks to the research by Schonkeren, now has a new historical dimension.
Het onderzoek wordt begin oktober 2024 gepubliceerd als: ‘Master with the lion head in a shield: A new attribution of the ornamental cup of Veere (c. 1547-1548)’, in: Oud Holland – Journal For Art Of The Low Countries.
The research will be published in early October as “Master with the lion head in a shield: A new attribution of the ornamental cup of Veere (c. 1547-1548)”, in Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries.