Cup with cover 1736 - 1737

This silver-gilt cup with cover was crafted by Gottlieb Menzel, a master goldsmith, likely in Augsburg. The cup is adorned with oval medallions depicting winged putti. These cherubic figures, drawn from classical antiquity and Christian art, serve as potent symbols of innocence, divine love, and spiritual messengers. We see echoes of these motifs in Renaissance paintings, where putti frolic in idyllic scenes, and even in ancient Roman sarcophagi, where winged figures guide souls to the afterlife. The cup's elaborate scrollwork, another recurring motif, speaks to a deep-seated human desire for order and beauty. These spiraling patterns can be traced back to ancient Greece, where they adorned temples and pottery, each repetition a visual echo resonating through time. The presence of these symbols invites us to consider how cultural memory shapes our perception of the world. The motifs on this cup tap into a collective unconscious, evoking emotions and associations that transcend time and place.