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Wine Jug

A work made of silver.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of silver.

Date:

1739/40

Artist:

Charles Frederick Kandler
English, born Germany, active 1735- c. 1778
London, England

About this artwork

This jug was originally one of a pair made by one of two German emigré silversmiths, Charles Kandler or Charles Frederick Kandler. It bears the mark FK, which was registered in 1735 to Charles Frederick Kandler, who presumably took over a family workshop from a relative. It is possible that both Kandlers were related to Johann Joachim Kandler, chief modeler at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory from 1733 to 1775, who designed the Art Institute’s lively and ornamental monkey band sculpture. Whatever the family relationship might have been, the Kandler style in silver, characterized by a profusion of cast and hammered three-dimensional ornament, emerged in the late 1720s—as early, if not even earlier, than the sculptural style at Meissen.

The exuberant decoration of the piece is perfectly balanced with its function. Since it is a wine ewer, it is covered with figures associated with Dionysus (also called Bacchus), the Classical god of wine: a seated infant Pan playing his pipes forms the finial; the spout is in the form of a panther’s head, its shoulders encircled by grapevines; and the handle is a maiden holding a cluster of grapes in her upstretched arms. On the belly of the ewer, cartouches formed of scrolls, shells, and undulating foliage frame infant satyrs and children engaged in various activities: feeding grapes to a panther, reclining on the back of a goat, raising their glasses, and sleeping off the effects of their indulgences.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Charles Frederick Kandler

Title

Wine Jug

Place

London (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1739–1740

Medium

Silver

Dimensions

34 × 21.3 × 13.9 cm (13 3/8 × 8 3/8 × 5 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Antiquarian Society

Reference Number

2004.718

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/184321/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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