Nuppenbecher

As late as the mid-20th century and beyond, European medieval glassware was mostly described in the literature as relatively primitive. This assessment was based on insufficient knowledge of the material. A completely new view was established by the exhibition Phoenix of Sand and Ashes shown in 1988 at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn and the Historisches Museum Basel. The exhibition convincingly demonstrated that, contrary to previous assumptions, medieval glassworks sometimes produced pieces that met the highest standards. Indeed, it would have been astonishing if, alongside the exceptional artistic achievements of skilled artisans during this period in the most diverse fields – not least the magnificent stained glass windows in cathedrals – glass vessels in particular had been the only genre to remain more primitive. The three prunted beakers (Nuppenbecher) and the tall beaker (Stangenglas) shown here bear witness to the high quality of medieval glass vessels. They were made for everyday use, yet three of them miraculously survived five hundred years and more undamaged.

Various designs of Nuppenbecher were in use across large parts of Europe, especially from the 13th to the beginning of the 16th century. They were first made of colourless glass, then of slightly greenish and finally of deep green glass, in very different shapes and sizes, with many variations of ring feet, prunts and other elements.

The present example belongs to a group known as the “Schaffhausen type” because numerous glasses with similar characteristics were found on the site of the former monastery Kloster Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. Typical are the light green-blue glass, the pincered ring foot, a considerable number of relatively small, nubbin-like, individually applied prunts and a horizontally folded trailed glass thread that separates the lip from the body. The shape and size of the cups can vary greatly.

The Schaffhausen cups were still considered rare in the 1960s. In the meantime, however, thousands of fragments of this type have been recovered during archaeological excavations. This proves that such pieces were tableware for everyday use. These fragile objects broke over time or were replaced by new drinking glasses as fashions changed. The present completely intact example owes its survival to the fact that it was walled into an altar as a reliquary – probably shortly after its creation – and thanks to this circumstance it has survived the turmoil of the centuries.