Pair of Corporation Drinking Horns, 19th Century

There was a time when being a craftsman meant entering a community with deep-rooted rules and traditions. The apprentice worked for many years with his master before being able, perhaps, to become a master in his turn… But the demands of the corporation were high! He had to take care of his masterpiece before he could finally accepted in the guild.
We can well imagine the joy and pride it must have been to be accepted master after so many difficulties!
Painting has transmitted the memory of this tradition and our two drinking horns find their perfect model in an oil on canvas by Willem Kalf painted around 1653 and entitled Still life with the drinking horn of the corporation of archers of San Sebastian, a lobster and glasses..

Willem Kalf, Nature morte avec la corne à boire de la corporation des archers de Saint-Sébastien, un homard et des verres. Circa 1653. National Gallery, Londres

Obviously, it was a moment to celebrate and the corporate horns are the memories of these festive moments. The two that we present are the memory of their ancestors because they were created in the 19th century, when the corporations were abolished for at least half a century!
However, the traditions still remain and completing apprenticeship to become a craftsman is always an occasion for celebration. These two horns, in their neo-Renaissance style silvered mounts, leave a free space on the central cartouche, ready to receive the name of the lucky one and the date that marks his entry into the community.