Dutch Warming Pan

Explanation:

This fine Dutch warming pan has a turned brass handle and pierced, embossed, chased and punched decoration to the lid. The subject, known as the ‘two spies’, depicts Joshua and Caleb carrying a load of grapes out of Canaan, signifying that it was a green and fruitful land.

Although such biblical subjects are common on so-called ‘alms dishes’ of the 16th and 17th centuries, they are rare on warming pans. The only other recorded example appears to be one in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, depicting Adam & Eve, another common alms dish subject. It has an almost identical handle and is dated 1625.

Reference:

• Onno ter Kuile, Koper & Brons;  Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1986, p. 282 fig. 387