Note: The present cup is designed to mimic a popular German Renaissance-era shoe called a Schnabelschuh. This piece may have been made as a token for a member of a shoemakers’ guild, and could have functioned as a trophy, a representation of the brotherhood, or possibly a gift for a senior member. It was most likely made for symbolic use, however it could have been employed for celebratory toasts on occasion.

Such cups are rare, with very few surviving today. The present work, with its finely engraved metal mounts, is a prime example of this type of piece. A very similar cup, formerly in the collection of John Pierpont Morgan, is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (accession number: 17.190.608a, b). A second similar example was made in Nurnberg circa 1580 by Melchior Mager, and was previously in the collections of Joseph Brummer and Siegfried Kramarsky. 

Cup in the form of a shoe, German, late 16th century. Leather, with silver mounts; 13.7 × 20.6 cm. Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917, 17.190.608a, b. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 The form of the pointed shoe, or Schnabelschuh, that appears in this embroidered shield (1983.364) Aand leather cup (17.190.608a, b) indicates that both works are associated with the shoemakers’ guild. Its elongated tip mocks a style popular with the nobility of the fifteenth century. The leather cup, called a blackjack, may have been used for toasts of allegiance to the guild, and embroidered shields like this one would have been draped over coffins during funeral processions honoring guild members