Welcome (cup)
The welcome - also welcome , welcome cup , welcome cup - is a large drinking vessel that was given to the honored guest on festive occasions of aristocratic societies or civil corporations, especially guilds , or that was passed around in the group.
Emergence
The name, use and earliest examples have only come down to us from the early modern period. The much-cited Dauner Wilkum also only received the status and function of a welcome with the silver mount from 1652 . The custom of welcoming people to be honored with a drink from a valuable vessel will certainly go back to the Middle Ages, but the name itself only dates back to the 16th century. In German dictionary of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm some literary documents are cited. The vessels that have survived from this period are elaborately crafted and were commissioned from important artisans by the nobility and wealthy merchants.
Guild welcome
This model was soon emulated by wealthy urban corporations, especially the guilds. The use of the welcome became part of the rituals in their meetings and morning languages . Finally, the journeyman's associations, which at times emancipated themselves, also imitated the ceremonies of the guild masters and had their own welcome made. They were mostly in the form of large double-bellied goblets, but also cups, and often also representational shapes that indicated the trade in question (e.g. boot of the shoemaker, barrel of the cooper). The lids are often crowned with a knight or ancient warrior, in the late period with a civil figure. The majority of the welcome items exhibited and stored in stores in city and local museums today come from the respective local guilds.
The size and material should show the guild's reputation and prosperity. If the financial circumstances allowed it, the welcome was made of silver. In order to enhance his jewelry even more, on special occasions (acquittal, admission to the guild, election to the eldest), journeymen and masters used to donate silver hangings that were marked with the coat of arms and the name of the donor. There were fixed rules everywhere for handling the welcome. The acquitted apprentice, the newly enrolled journeyman, the accepted master had to drink it first, then he went around - whether to the right or to the left, whether standing or sitting, how the lid was handled and which formulas were spoken. was precisely defined. When moving, it was ceremoniously carried forward as the most precious possession of the guild or journeyman's box.
Shape and material
The design and materials used were not subject to any regulations. The welcome of princely origins are mostly made of silver, occasionally assembled with unusual materials such as ivory or rock crystal, and occasionally stoneware. But they can also consist entirely of glass or ceramic. The guild welcome of the late 17th and 18th centuries, mostly voluminous lidded goblets made of silver or pewter, are often characterized by the fact that they take over the ancient, mannerist cup shapes of the early 17th century with their multiple constrictions and horizontal structures.
literature
- Hans-Ulrich Haedeke: Tin . Braunschweig 1963.
- Dictionary of Art . Volume 5. Berlin 1981, pp. 607 f.
- Dieter Nadolski: guild tin . Leipzig 1986.
Web links
- 360 ° view of the welcome of the Schiffercompagnie Wismar from 1673 (Virtual State Museum Mecklenburg)
Individual evidence
- ^ Staatliche Museen Kassel , stoneware, from the possession of the Rhine Count Johann Ludwig from the first half of the 15th century.
- ↑ Welcome, m., 'Reception, welcome' c) the 'welcome cup'. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 30 : Wilb – Hyssop - (XIV, 2nd section). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1960, Sp. 193–194 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
- ↑ Welcome. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 57, Leipzig 1748, column 267.