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Die  Philippine-Welser-Kanne  von  Ulrich  II  Meringer

SuMMARY
The  Philippine  Welser  Jug  by  Ulrich  II  Meringer
In  the  Kunstkammer  (Collection  of  Sculpture  and  Decorative  Arts)  of  the
Kunsthistorisches  Museum  is  a  gilded  silver  jug  that  is  unique  in  many
respects.  The  maker’s  mark  shows  that  it  is  the  work  of  the  Augsburg
goldsmith  Ulrich  II  Meringer,  who  became  a  master  in  1554  and  died  in
1582.  The  hallmark  was  valid  from  1559  to  1586.  Thus  the  vessel  must
have  been  created  between  1559  and  1582.
The  special  feature  of  this  jug  is  that  it  is  impossible  to  pour  anything.
from  the  apparent  spout,  which  must  have  been  designed  to  be  sucked
instead.  That  makes  this  vessel  unique;  nothing  eise  like  it  is  known  from
the  European  cultural  area.  However,  in  exploring  non-European  influences,
  one  finds  models  for  the  present  specimen.  Various  ethnological  collections
  contain  mate  vessels  from  which  the  tea  was  not  drunk  but  rather
  sucked.  Travellers  returning  from  expeditions  reported  that  mate  was
drunk  by  the  native  inhabitants  of  South  America,  who  used  a  drinking
straw  to  suck  it  from  a  hollow  gourd.
The  jug  was  listed  in  the  1596  inventory  of  the  estate  of  Archduke  Ferdinand ­
  II  and  must  have  been  part  of  the  furnishings  of  Ambras  Castle,
where  it  subsequently  appeared  in  several  inventories.  There  it  was  probably
  used  by  Ferdinands  wife,  Philippine  Welser  -  perhaps  for  drinking
an  infusion  of  medicinal  herbs  or  even  mate.  Her  interest  in  the  culinary
arts  and  medicine  was  reflected  in  the  planting  of  a  herbal  garden  and  in
the  furnishing  of  an  apothecary,  among  other  activities.
In  the  author’s  opinion,  it  was  Archduke  Ferdinand  II  who  commissioned
the  jug.  As  a  member  of  the  imperial  family  he  had  the  necessary  Connections ­
  to  have  such  a  unique  vessel  made.  This  supposition  is  supported  by
the  fact  that  an  uncle  of  Philippine  Welser,  Bartholomew  V  Welser,  who
between  1519  and  1551  ran  the  business  of  the  Augsburg  merchant  family, ­
  himself  went  on  expeditions.  From  1528  he  was  governor  of  the  Spanish
  overseas  province  of  Venezuela,  where  he  could  have  become  familiär ­
  with  vessels  that  were  sucked  rather  than  poured.