Showcase 34. Ambassadorial gifts. Denmark

Melon goblet. Germany, Hamburg, 1631-1633. Maker G. Lambrecht II.
Confectionery tree. Germany, Hamburg, 1633-1644. Maker D.T. Moye
The showcase contains ambassadorial gifts from Denmark, most part of which were executed by German makers of the XVIIth century and Hamburg craftsmen in particular.

In the XVIth and XVIIth centuries trading and diplomatic representatives from Denmark came to Moscow looking for an alliance with Russia in her rivalry with Sweden over the dominance of the Baltic. In 1644 Waldemar, the son of the Danish monarch, arrived in Moscow as a suitor for Tsarevna Irina, the daughter of Tsar Mikhail Romanov, and brought precious gifts, including ceremonial horse harness, vessels made of nacre and more than two hundred articles made of silver. Here you can see pickle bowls with a Venus-shaped stem, a goblet in the form of a sliced melon on a plate of fruit, a deer-shaped pitcher for washing hands and a silver sweetmeat bowl, known as "confectionery tree".