Armorial Raeren Frieze Jug dated 1598
The 1598 Mennicken Jug as Witness to late 16th century Political Alliances of the Holy Roman Empire
The Raeren stoneware frieze jug from 1598, crafted in Jan Baldems Mennicken’s workshop, represents a remarkable convergence of artistic craftsmanship and political symbolism. The elaborate heraldic decoration featuring the coats of arms of the Elector of Cologne, the city of Speyer, and the city of Cologne is refering to the complex political landscape of the Holy Roman Empire at the close of the 16th century.
The Mennicken Workshop: Masters of Raeren Stoneware
JAN BALDEMS MENNICKEN operated (1589 – 1613) one of the most prestigious pottery workshops in Raeren during the late 16th century. It had established itself as a leading center for high-quality stoneware production.
The Mennicken family represented master potters who had developed sophisticated techniques for creating intricate relief decorations that transformed functional vessels into works of art. Jan Baldems is the third of Raeren’s most renowned potters and son and apprentice of Baldem Mennicken
Heraldry: The Elector of Cologne
Wappen des Kurfürstentums Köln seit circa 1530. Die vier Felder von links oben im Uhrzeigersinn stehen für das Rheinische Erzstift, Herzogtum Westfalen, Grafschaft Arnsberg, Herzogtum Engern. Das schwarze Kreuz auf weißem (silbernem) Grund, bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt Wappen des ganzen Erzstifts und bis heute des Erzbistums, hier in der seit 1989 für das Erzbistum gebräuchlichen Form. (Hansgeorg Molitor, Das Ezbistum Köln im Zeitalter der Glaubenskämpfe 1515-1688, Köln 2008, S.70)
source: Frank Engel (Bonn/Göttingen) Portal Rheinische Geschichte
Above the coat of arms of the Electorate of Cologne since around 1530, featuring a quartered shield representing clockwise from top left represent the Archbishopric of the Rhine, the Duchy of Westphalia, the County of Arnsberg and the Duchy of Engern.
Heraldry: The Imperial City of Speyer
Wilking, Reinhold: Wappen der Stadt Speyer 1549: Aus: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographia 1550, 1925
https://www.deutschefotothek.de/documents/obj/71852548
© Pfalzbibliothek Kaiserslautern / Wilking, Reinhold
Lizenz: Rechte vorbehalten – Freier Zugang.
Above the coat of arms of Speyer features a single central gate tower, representing the city’s status as an imperial free city. Though smaller than Cologne, Speyer held particular importance in the Holy Roman Empire as the seat of the Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht) from 1526 to 1688, making it a center of imperial justice and administration.
Heraldry: The Free Imperial City of Cologne
The coat of arms of Cologne displays the distinctive three crowns
In 1475, Cologne was officially recognized as a Free Imperial City, a status that granted it significant autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire
Cologne Coat of Arms 1527
Museum Reference Object Collection British Museum London
Stoneware jug with pewter lid and base mounts; brown salt-glaze; neck frieze – grotesque roundel-framed busts separated by chain and floral relief; shoulder decorated with roulette bands, 2 rows of stamped palmettes and bars; between frieze and shoulder rouletted floral scroll; lower body – radiating grooved bars; body frieze – medallion of Arms of Köln and lions terminated by armorial medallions and serpent with acanthus scroll relief, below inscription.
© The Trustees of the British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/292551001
Museum Reference Collection Museum für angewandte Kunst Köln (MAKK)
364 WAPPEN-KRUG FARB-TAF. IV
Braunes, salzglasiertes Steinzeug
RAEREN, Jan Baldems Mennicken, datiert 1598 H. 31 cm
source: Gisela Reineking von Bock: Steinzeug. Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Köln. (today MAKK)
Köln 1976
Page 246 and Farbtafel IV
Text to the photo above (page 246): Auf dem zylinderförmigen Bauchfries zwischen reichem Ranken werk auf der Vorderseite im großen Rundfeld das Wappen der Stadt Köln von zwei Löwen gehalten, links davon das Wappen des Kurfürsten von Köln und rechts davon das der Stadt Speyer. Als unterer Abschluß ein Inschriftenfries: DIT IS EINE KUNST, DIE KVMPT AVS GOTTES GVNST. WER DIE KUNST NOCH SO SCHON, SO MOSSEN SEI SICH GEFFEN ZV DEN DOT 1598. Am Hals zwischen Akanthusblättern mit Rollwerk Mascarons und Köpfe in Ovalfeldern. (Gisela Reineking von Bock: Steinzeug. Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Köln 1976)
Literature
German stoneware, 1200-1900 : archaeology and cultural history : containing a guide to the collections of the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Museum of London
by Gaimster, David R. M
Online access at Internet archive with this link:
Gisela Reineking von Bock: Steinzeug. Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Köln.
Köln 1976.
