Beaker

Johan Wittfooth, Turku, 1734. Height 18 cm.

Beakers and trophies that widen towards the rim like a trumpet were common throughout the 18th century. Different stylistic changes can be noted in the decorations and height of the foot, as well as the decorations of the rim. The inner surface, mouth and the band of the foot of trophies are often gilded. The rim of this trophy has a large motif embossed with short lines in the Late Baroque style. The middle of the motif has the owners’ initials; one side has the woman’s initials A. E. D. (A… E…s Dotter, i.e., Daughter), the other side likely has the man’s initials P. E. M.

Johan Wittfooth (active in Turku in 1733–1752) began as an apprentice in Stockholm and gained his journeyman’s qualifications there. He conducted his masterwork in Turku in 1733. Wittfooth gave up his profession in 1752 in order to move to Sweden and join a religious sect. Nils Enberg received the responsibility to manage Wittfooth’s workshop. Wittfooth later returned to Turku, where he owned several houses.

At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, several orders were given to hallmark silver and gold objects. In addition to the master’s marks and town marks used in the hallmarks of silver objects, a thin metal strip was carved from the objects to assay the metal content, from which the characteristic, serrated “alderman’s line” seen in early silver objects originates. The alderman’s line was decreed to be replaced in 1752 by a hallmark depicting three crowns. In addition to the master’s mark and the town mark, a letter denoting the year of manufacture now had to be used.

In Turku, the series of year marks was begun in 1734 with the letter A. This trophy made by Johan Wittfooth is, to this day, the only known Finnish silver object with the year mark A.

Source:

Borg 1972 (1935), s. 67.