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Source Description
In 17th-century Russia, cups often carried moralizing maxims and images, thus urging one to drink with moderation. Here, the depiction of Samson and the accompanying versified inscription warn the cup's owner not to surrender to the wiles of immoral women. The painting on the underside probably depicts the fox and the crow from Aesop's Fables and has a similar message: as the harlot decieved Samson, so the fox decieved the crow with sweet talk, thus making him drop the cheese he held in his beak. Aesop's text was translated into Russian in 1700 but was probably known even before then through Western sources.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
11757
label
Drinking Bowl
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
11757
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Drinking Bowl
description
In 17th-century Russia, cups often carried moralizing maxims and images, thus urging one to drink with moderation. Here, the depiction of Samson and the accompanying versified inscription warn the cup's owner not to surrender to the wiles of immoral women. The painting on the underside probably depicts the fox and the crow from Aesop's Fables and has a similar message: as the harlot decieved Samson, so the fox decieved the crow with sweet talk, thus making him drop the cheese he held in his beak. Aesop's text was translated into Russian in 1700 but was probably known even before then through Western sources.
provenance
Leon Grinberg (""A La Vieille Russie""), New York, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1952, by purchase.
date
ca. 1690 (Early Modern)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
bowls (vessels)
drinking vessels
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
4.5
height
16
dimensionsRaw
H: 1 3/4 x Diam: 6 5/16 in. (4.5 x 16 cm)
Source extras
cul
Russian
style
Baroque
inscriptions
[Transcription] Ороужïи тысiаща уста лвóва силою победитель стирáетъ / Внегдà Самψóнъ лстивне блоуднице крѣпость предавáеть / Увы iскóпаннымъ врагóмъ - крѣпость бывáетъ [Оружии тъсяща уста львова победитель стирает / Внегда Сампсон льстивне блуднице крепость предавает / Увы ископанным врагом - крепость бывает]; [Translation] Samson
who conquered the lion’s mouth with [his] might
loses a thousand weapons when he surrenders his strength to the wily harlot
[but] woe to the hidden enemy – [his] strength remains.
dynasty
House of Romanov
reign
Peter I the Great (1682-1725)
med
painted enamel with gilded silver
creator_ids
6214
collection_ids
BAR
exhibition_ids
956
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
d81f6603eed65ef9