Hansel in the basement

Hansel in the cellar is the name of a figure who appears when pouring drinks in certain drinking cups, especially those that were widespread from the first half of the 17th to the middle of the 18th century.

The origin of these joke cups is in Holland . In the middle of the drinking bowls, which are provided with a stand, there is an elevation with a hinged lid, under which the figure is hidden. If liquid is added to the bowl, the figure rises thanks to the attached float and finally opens the lid.

From these drinking games one drank to the benefit of an unborn child. The figure mostly represents a boy or a girl; in the latter case one drank to the health "Gretchen in the kitchen". Only the copy in the Suermondt Museum houses a Jacob figure. Most of these drinking games are made of silver , but some works made of glass - some without a swimming device, but only with an inscription - are known.

literature

• Günther Schiedlausky : About a baroque joke cup. Generally speaking, the Hansel in the cellar . In: Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseum . 1963, p. 132–141 ( digitized at journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de).
• Eugen von Philippovich, Curiosities / Antiques . Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig 1966