A rare Dutch silver tumbler cup

A rare Dutch silver tumbler cup

A smooth silver tumbler cup with a slightly concave bottom. The edge is slightly constricted, below is a text engraved that clarifies the use:

‘Drinckt mij uit en legt mij neder. Stae ick niet op Soo drinckt mij weder’

Translated: Finish me and lay me down. If I don’t stand up, so drink me again.

Below the text a coat of arms is engraved together with a house and a ropemaker. It is very likely that the owner of this cup was a ropemaker.

From 1530 onwards drinking game cups such as tumbler cups and windmill cups became popular in several European countries, such as Germany, Austria
and the Northern and Southern Netherlands. They were mainly produced in the cities of Amsterdam, Antwerp, Leeuwarden, Augsburg and Nuremberg.
The cups were used at receptions, with festivities of the guilds, at a game, or had a place of honour in a well-filled cabinet of curiosities.

This type of tumbler cup, a so called ‘tuimelaar‘ was exclusively made in Groningen in the 17th century. Only a handful still exist.