posted 03-29-2004 10:14 PM            

Would anyone care to venture an opinion as to the theme and era of the following emblem on an old ladle? Perhaps a very, very old Proctor and Gamble ladle? ) The maiden appears to be holding a long cornucopia in one hand, and some type of long leafed plant in the other.

posted 03-30-2004 12:50 AM            

I've fired off a quick e-mail to the librarian of the Warburg Institute at London University. They specialise in the "elements of European thought, literature, art and institutions which derive from the ancient world" - and have a magnificent library and archive. I'll post any reply as soon as it comes.

posted 03-31-2004 06:53 PM            

Here is the entire ladle (14 1/2 inches, barely fit my flatbed scanner diagonally - 75 dpi, but it's a big canvas, Photobucket says it automatically resizes large files, hope I'm not breaking the bank here):

The drop doesn't show all that clearly, but it has a raised "X" pattern embossed, with the top half (nearer to bowl rim) simple ridges, and the bottom half consisting of a raised chevron. The handle appears to be truly applied, silver soldered to the bowl, which was notched to receive it (totally amazing it hasn't come apart in 200 or so years!). The bowl is a bit strange also, being bath tub shaped (it is longer front to back than it is wide from side to side), though it has the typical German flared rim. Likewise with the handle, the Hilaritas emblem is silver soldered to the handle.

If anyone would care to venture an opinion as to the manufacture date and maker (see original comments), I would be appreciative. TIA, and hope this is a funny bone tickler for those interested in offbeat continental silver!

posted 04-01-2004 09:43 AM            

"Dear Mr Vyvyan

You may well be right about Hilaritas, for although she is not common as a personification (indeed the only images of it we have in our files as 'Hilaritas Publica', or in an adaptation, 'Hilaritas Pontificia' are on papal medals of the 16th and 17th centuries) she is shown here with cornucopia and palm (and sometimes others bits and pieces). The source is presumably an ancient coin, but curiously the figure of Hilartias (Publica, or Temporum) does not feature in Du Choul's Religion des anciens romains, which is the book I always go to first. There, however, you will find a coin with the motif of a sun on one side and a crescent moon with stars on the other. This one has the inscription 'Rpma' but in the context of your image it may just mean that Joy resounds to the skies, or for eternity (Aeternitas has a sun and moon on ancient coins). I see too that a coin of Faustina with Hilaritas is described in Valeriano's Hierogluphica (under cornucopia; edn 1575, 409F)

But is the attribute of the figure really a palm? I suppose it is too big for an olive branch (which would then make her Pax) .

Can you tell us more about the ladle, and also why you thought of Hilaritas. Was it on the basis of the imagery of ancient coins?

With best wishes,

Elizabeth McGrath"

I shall send her the further details that Nihontochicken has added. Here, for reference, are two coins with a personification of Pax:

posted 04-01-2004 01:16 PM            

quote:

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Any enlightenment would be well appreciated, including insight as to the significance of Hilaritas to late eighteenth century Germany.

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posted 04-02-2004 12:43 AM            

Assuming I am correct, and this is indeed Hilaritas, then the origin of the design is a Romnan coin. How and why did the silversmith choose this motif? Almost certainy he had access to a book illustrating Classical iconography/archaeology. Professor McGrath mentions two sources from the 16th Century, but the 18th Century was also a great period of classical appreciation and study (the Grand Tour etc.). Did such a book form part of the stock design repertoire of the silversmith? Or was it proposed as a specific commission with a specific meaning? Given the apparent obsurity of Hilaritas, I would favour the latter.

Here I am clutching at straws, but possibly they may lead somewhere with further research:
1. Hilaritas seems to be the name in the US for certain student music concerts - What is the origin of this custom?
2. One of the first US student societies, founded in 1750 at the College of William & Mary was the "Flat Hat Club", TFH, so named after the Latin phrase "Fraternitas, Hilaritas, Cognitioque", and dedicated to serious drinking! So, in a wider (ie German) 18th Century context, did Hilaritas have associations with a good booze-up?
3. Mixing both elements, there were 18th. men's singing clubs which combined a good few drinks with the singing of musically demanding but not altogether decent songs!