Behaim Beaker. Colorless. Blown; enameled, gilded. Beaker: barrel shaped, with fire-polished rim; integral foot with articulated foot-ring and pontil mark. Below rim, gilded band with scratched design of scales, with rounded side up, between lines and denticular frieze below. Light blue dots adorn scales, red dots decorate denticular frieze, and dense row of white dots and scattered row of blue dots appear below gilding. Above foot, gilded band is scratched into circlets that hold, alternately, blue dot and red dot. Between bands, continuous green ground with black sprigs and white enamel dots; three gold trees, with green and blue enamel dots enlivened with white enamel dots, subdivide surface for large coat of arms and two cusped white and yellow frames with representations of archangel Michael and Saint Catherine. Targe per pale of gules and argent, overall a bend wavy sinister sable; crest a bird argent, gorged with crown sable; helmet mantlings red, lined with white.

The Behaim Beaker is a fine example of Venetian cristallo, and it demonstrates how glass from Venice commanded attention abroad. The beaker bears a coat of arms and two panels, each of which contains a figure. The coat of arms belongs to the Behaim family of Nuremberg. One panel depicts the archangel Michael killing a dragon; the other shows Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The unusual combination of Michael and Catherine requires an explanation. It is thought that the beaker was made for the wedding, on July 7, 1495, of a Nuremberg patrician, Michael Behaim, and Katerina Lochnerin, the daughter of a rich merchant whose firm controlled trade between Nuremberg and Venice. If this explanation is correct, the Behaim Beaker is an outstanding illustration of fine Venetian glassware custom-made for export to Germany. It also demonstrates two of the features of Venetian glass that attracted widespread attention: the excellence of cristallo and the brilliance of the gilded and enameled ornament. The Behaim Beaker appears to be the earliest Venetian gilded and enameled glass that can be dated precisely.