Beaker 1638

This silver beaker was made in Germany by Michael Gunterdt in the mid-17th century. At this time, the Holy Roman Empire was undergoing massive social upheaval. Objects like this beaker offer us an insight into the ways that visual culture participates in the formation of social status. On its surface, we see the detailed engraving of a coat of arms, a visual marker of nobility and family lineage that would have been instantly recognizable to the social elites of the period. The visual codes of heraldry were central to the creation and maintenance of status. As art historians, we look to objects like this to consider the social conditions that shape artistic production. By researching family histories and the social conventions of heraldry, we can understand how the art of the past reflects the politics of its own time.