Tankard, so-called Hanse tankard

Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, late 16th century. Height 23 cm.

This tankard is used like a pint; that is, people have drunk directly from it. Tankards were mainly meant for drinking beer, but sometimes also wine. The cylindrical, tall and narrow shape is typical of a tankard from the end of the 16th century. The name “Hanse tankard” refers to the Hanseatic Lague, which was formed by coastal cities by the Baltic Sea and operated as early as the Middle Ages, and to the fact that similar tankards were used by wealthy Hanse merchants in festivities in different regions around the Baltic Sea.

This tankard was made in Tallinn, and its Renaissance-style ornamentation, gilded and partly engraved and partly cast, highlights the value and festive appearance of the tankard. The soldier standing on top of the tankard has likely held in his right hand a flag, the pole of which has remained only partly intact. The shield that the soldier is carrying at his side is possibly intended more for parades than for battle.

The tankard is a part of a silver hoard found in Nivala. The hoard was discovered by Leonard Antinpoika Mustakangas, the son of a tenant farmer, in 1891, buried in the ground in Kolmikangas, Nivala. Based on the other silver objects, a beaker, a mug and spoons, the objects were likely hidden during the Great Wrath in 1713–1721. Several hoards have been found in Finland consisting usually of copper coins or silver coins and objects, buried in the ground during wars and crises.

Source:

Fagerström 2000, s. 12–13.