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RARE MEDIEVAL HANAP A circular silver drinking cup with a gi…
See original version (French)
156
-
RARE MEDIEVAL HANAP A circular silver drinking cup with a gi…
See original version (French)
Estimate €8,000 - €12,000
Voluntary lot
Description
RARE MEDIEVAL HANAP
A circular silver drinking cup with a gilded (vermeil) rim, decorated with repoussé work forming a frieze of architectural festoons alternating between semicircular arches and clover-shaped bases. On the underside: an unidentified hallmark (probably a town hallmark?) and two assay marks. A carefully engraved symbol consisting of a Gothic ‘B’ surmounted by a small cross, and a coat of arms engraved more naively with a knife.
France, 14th century, c. 1340.
Height: 4 cm – Diameter: 17.8 cm – Weight: 416.5 g.
(Signs of wear and damage)
Bibliography:
– Catherine Arminjon and Francis Muel, ‘An exceptional collection of medieval civil gold and silverwork: the Coëffort hoard’, *Bulletin monumental*, vol. 142-II, 1984, pp. 135–158.
Description:
This 14th-century goblet is an exceedingly rare example of secular goldsmith’s work from the French Middle Ages. Indeed, such pieces have suffered the ravages of war, royal melting-downs, as well as changes in taste and the evolution of decorative styles.
Wine, traditionally diluted throughout the Middle Ages, was generally poured up to a mark (here perhaps the festoon frieze) and then water was added to the flared rim of the bowl, in a ratio of approximately four to one.
The Louvre Museum holds a series of four hanaps [Inv. Nos. OA 11783 to OA 11786] from the so-called Ariège hoard, which dates from before 1361. As luxury items, hanaps were generally engraved with a mark of ownership, such as the one in the Louvre mentioned above [OA 11786] and the one from the so-called Gaillon hoard held by the Musée de Cluny [Inv. No. CL1951], both of which feature coats of arms engraved with exactly the same naivety as that on our example.
Our example also bears, on the reverse, a particularly unusual engraved symbol, distinct from the hallmark: a Gothic letter (perhaps a B), surmounted by a small cross.
To date, the only truly relevant comparison seems to be with the engraved marks found on the goblets from the Coëffort treasure, published by Catherine Arminjon and Francis Muel in the *Bulletin monumental* in 1984. The authors describe a mark consisting of a Gothic C, also surmounted by a small cross, without interpreting it as a hallmark, and suggest that it may be a sign of affiliation, perhaps linked to a brotherhood. This occurrence, which appears to be unique within the corpus of medieval French civil goldsmithing, must be considered in relation to the mark on our goblet. It allows us to put forward a new hypothesis: that of a signature letter, or a distinctive dating letter, used not as a hallmark but as a sign of affiliation, belonging or recognition within a group. This mark, halfway between an initial, an emblem and a community symbol, makes our goblet all the more valuable as it seems to preserve the echo of a medieval identification system that has almost entirely disappeared.
It is worth noting that the last medieval silver hanap to be offered at auction was a 15th-century Toulouse hanap from the Manny Davidson Collection; it was sold for €57,150 at Sotheby’s on 6 November 2025 (Lot 140).
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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