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This unusual vessel is known as the Dragon Ewer because a gaping dragon’s mouth serves as its spout and a scaly tail as its handle. But it is not so much a jug as a display of virtuosity – a fine example of the goldsmith’s art in the Mannerist style.

Rams’ heads, snails, winged cherubim heads and leonine masks cover the surface. The jug looks almost as if it might disappear under the excessive decoration. The viewer has to be very observant to notice in the midst of all this ornamentation that the four heart-shaped humps bear finely punched allegories of the four seasons. Fama, the Roman goddess of rumour, crowns the lid. From the Renaissance onwards, she was associated with fame. But here she has lost her characteristic symbol, the trumpet with which she proclaims fame in the world.

Unfortunately, that’s not the only thing missing. The Dragon Ewer once had a matching basin. Together they formed a lavabo set. That was the name given to the utensils used for table ablutions in the seventeenth century. However, this extravagant set never served a practical function. The basin was melted down in 1772, together with other silver and gold objects, to refill Saxony’s state coffers after the devastating Seven Years’ War – a conflict that involved all the major powers of the world in the mid-eighteenth century.

The fantastic Dragon Ewer was created by Christoph Jamnitzer, a member of the famous Nuremberg dynasty of goldsmiths.  You can also see works by his father and his famous grandfather, Wenzel Jamnitzer, in the Green Vault. The Elector Christian II acquired the ewer and basin in Prague in 1610, while making territorial claims at the court of the Emperor Rudolph II. On the same occasion, the Elector also acquired the Diana automaton, which you have already seen on this tour.