The Automaton that is also a Drinking Game | with Rachel King | Curator's Corner S7 Ep9

Possibly the most elaborate drinking game we've ever heard of, this automaton was made in Nuremburg between 1617 and 1620 by Wolf Christoff Ritter. This is an excellent example of the types of drinking games and drinking paraphernalia that could be found on the tables of german aristocracy and the well-to-do of the 16th century.
Join Rachel King, curator of the Waddesdon Bequest to find out how it was made, how it was used, and how to drink cherrie brandy from a stag shaped bottle.
www.britishmuseum.org/collect...
0:00 Introduction
0:53 Object details and manufacture techniques
3:29 Introduction to drinking culture in Germany
5:30 Novelty drinking vesels
6:03 Provenence - where was this type of vesel normally found?
7:33 How do you drink from a novelty drinking vesel?
11:04 Outtro

[@kniesehne]

"Colleagues have conducted experiments" you say. where do i sign up for this experiment to get drunk out of fine silverware?

[@chrisball3778]

Aaaah. The life of a 17th-century German aristocrat. Getting absolutely hammered on schnapps drunk out of a silver novelty statuette before running around in the woods with weapons and angry dogs trying to kill something. Just the thing to get you in the mood for 30 years of apocalyptic religious warfare.

[@Hiltok]

Decades ago an old farmer showed me how to pour liquids from storage drums/casks that had a sealed top with a circular cap that was a relatively small part of the top of the drum. The "natural" orientation is to pour with the cap at the lower edge of the drum because we are used to pouring from vessels with completely open tops and see the liquid flow from the lower lip. Just as in the case of the stag, the canny method is to reverse the orientation and pour from the top to get a smooth flow of liquid out by allowing a smooth flow of air in.

[@hellie_el]

that’s brilliant - thanks!

[@rdouthwaite]

Same applies to fuel cans...

[@travelinman70]

Like drinking from a German boot.

[@dougieranger]

I do this with fresh orange juice cartons.

[@anniebodyhome1000]

Same with a quart of oil for cars.

[@SecretSquirrelFun]

It might have spun around on itself and the spear pointed out at the guests seated around the table. An early and very fancy version of Spin the Bottle - it could be one of the very first examples and show the origins of the popular “game” of the same name. Fascinating, so many possibilities. 🙂🐿🌈❤️

[@TristouMTL]

Thank you, British Museum. You entertain and educate AND offer practical advice, too! I now will never spill a drop of wine from a 17th century drinking vessel and bring shame upon my family.

[@johnnymcblaze]

She seemed scottish.

[@pca1987]

​@@johnnymcblaze So?

[@jimr9499]

One of the best series on all of KZbin, Curator's Corner is. Endlessly fascinating. Love it.

[@Just_Sara]

Lots of liquids in big rectangular tins have a pouring hole off to the side, and I remember how my mind was blown when I learned from KZbin to pour it the one way you did NOT want to pour it! Same principle here! Very cool items, thank you Ms. Rachel for sharing. :)

[@garysimms77]

The glass boot beer mug is the same as the Stag vessel! If you don't know how to do it, it will "burp" beer all over you. And people usually just smile and watch while the unsuspecting new comer is about to have a beer shower! :)

[@dustinbasurto7371]

Das boot, I have a half yard glass drunk the same.

[@CrowSkeleton]

The moral of this tale is that in the land of ridiculously fancy tableware, the guy with a straw is king. Less flippantly, it would seem fairly simple nowadays to have Conservation scan the clockwork and get a best guess digitally modelled or 3D printed in something cheaper than silver if the software wasn't to hand but folk were curious about how it moved. There might be a new toy for the museum shop involved.

[@rdouthwaite]

Any decent clock repairer should be able to figure it out.

[@pattheplanter]

Or just ask Chris from Clickspring.

[@kellydalstok8900]

Take the clockwork to the Repair Shop

[@johanneswerner1140]

Ah, the debate of conservation vs. restauration. Keeping it as original as possible is what one usually tries to aim for. It is not a big loss if the clockwork is not working, as it is really unlikely that this would be demonstrated regularly. So better keep it in its current state, as original as possible. We don't know what kind of questions will be asked in the future and what kind of research will be hindered by changing things.

[@dleetr]

The base is something to behold, truly.

[@rksnj6797]

Dr. King, this is the second video of yours that I watched. I think you're a wonderful presenter. Both videos were very interesting! Thank you!

[@PtolemyJones]

I'm surprised they couldn't examine the clockwork and make a working version to see how it would have performed.

[@nak3dxsnake]

IDK. It seemed like they were just making up this shit mostly.

[@MuseumAllThings]

They have done most of the work to with the diagram you can see on the website. Looking at it, go forward and has a disc on the bottom that is used as a timer. I personally wound say it's not a drinking game because it never turns / can't turn to point at the person. It also as a fixed time, so it would choose the same person over and over?

[@PtolemyJones]

@@MuseumAllThings So what do you think it was?

[@MuseumAllThings]

@@PtolemyJones I think it was still for drink and just a bit of fun to have sent up and don't the table.

[@edmundsveikutis1698]

Better still to have a craftsman presenting this .

[@trinitytwo14992]

And incredible Art piece in and of itself. Such skill! As an Artist I am in awe. Then to make it mechanical, SUCH FUN.

[@mikewysko2268]

Magnificent craftsmanship with a fascinating back story. I thank you for sharing this work of art with us.

[@In.New.York.I.Milly.Rock.]

Great video, love that we can wonder and ponder about older times from looking at this kind of curious triket. Thank you, Rachel!

[@wontputmynamehere]

This was a really fun documentary! What I appreciate about this channel is that they don't use music or random noises throughout the whole documentary. Thank you, that made all the difference: it made the documentary watchable for me! 👍 So many documentaries have a continuous stream of *plings* and *ploings* blasting through the narration. For people with autism or AD(H)D this can be so distracting that it becomes unwatchable for them. Sounds throughout the narration also hinder people who have hearing problems, or people who don't speak English as their first language. It's a bit like trying to catch up with a dear family member, but their toddler keeps hammering away on a toy piano. You really wanted to follow the conversation, but you can't separate it from the din 😮‍💨

[@danielpetersen6622]

The hunter and the stag are marvelous and fairly shout out their German heritage. In Germany I have been to gasthaus tables where beer was drunk from a glass boot. If you drink from the boot with the toe pointing up or down you could get a face-full of beer. The trick is to drink with the toe pointed sideways! I would think the stag would be poured the same way, from the side. The glass boot game was to start with a full boot. You drink as much as you can in one draught, then pass it to the next person. This would repeat until someone would finish the boot whereupon the guy BEFORE him has to buy the next boot full!

[@margaretflounders8510]

It's the same as our Yard of Ale, until recently, still getting people soaked in the pub....

[@DavidBergenStudio]

What a fascinating video! Maybe worthwhile getting Steve Fletcher of BBC's 'The Repair Shop' to have a look at the mechanism. He seems to have both the knack and the professional experience to get just about anything like this back in working order.

[@inthebeyond333]

Curator’s corner is my absolute favorite 💙

[@willhouse]

My visit to the British Museum was more than 7 years ago, but these particular items are often so enchanting that I still remember at least another 2 or 3 from the stills shown here. 👀

[@tati_oak]

Wow! What an incredible opportunity to see such a thing 👀 very interesting! 🧠 Thank you!

[@kenc2257]

How interesting! I doubt I'll ever come across one of these gorgeous 'drinking vessels' at any table I'm invited to, but I'm now better prepared--at least in theory--to deal with the mechanics of a proper pour.

[@Bubim1]

Very Interesting. It may only marginally connected but my local shooting club still celebrates the winner of the annual, traditional shooting competition, the "Schützenkönig" (King of marksmen) by drinking wine directly from a silver vessel in the shape of a dove which was gifted to the club by Emperor Willhelm the second. Drinking correctly involves a certain amount skill similar to drinking out of boot shaped glasses or the deer shaped vessel in the video. Now the liquid is consumed directly from the vessel, but I wonder if the doves head, which is attached on a small chain and could maybe hold 10 to 20 ml was meant to be a cup.

[@mrmagoo.3678]

I used to work at the British Museum, not as anything special lol..I was in the Cafe in the Grand Hall, having the chance to walk through this Museum daily and really get to know some of the Artifacts was fantastic though!..I really miss the dino's!

[@michaelsquires1218]

A drinking horn has the same problem; poured one way you'll dump most of the contents suddenly, the other way it's controllable. The society I'm in has a ceremony honoring the departed with a drinking horn, and someone showed me the trick before the horn was passed around.

[@reload9996]

Thank you! Great story...)

[@plainnpretty]

Very clever and a great story thanks for sharing it

[@Lurklen]

A fascinating insight into the hobbies of rich jerks of yesteryear lol. Very well told and displayed, thanks!

[@lynnblack6493]

What a great video. Can't wait till I get my invite to drinking ...❤

[@420JackG]

It would be cool to do a sample analysis of this sorta stuff to see what kind of horrifying stuff we were imbibing over the ages.

[@Shcreamingreen]

The British Museum is famed for its female curators being both knowledgeable and lovely.

[@DetroitMicroSound]

Rachel is absolutely adorable! What a piece! "gold washed sterling".

[@StrangeDepthsAP]

I feel as though I have learned something. Not just of antiquity, not just of drinking etiquette, but one of life itself.

[@MalakaPetros]

Great video!

[@johnberryhill8106]

I drank from a large Hunting Stein in Germany many years ago. You had to hold it a certain way to cover a certain hole or it would drench you with beer.......AWESOME!

[@benjaminpratt2016]

I think you folks missed something; when she mentioned you would be "the brunt of the joke" Have you considered that to get ANY liquor out properly, the stag had to "show it's belly" as it were... I think there was a much deeper ritualistic feature to this item. Fealty could be inherit in the design

[@leeming1317]

Dang i feel like im going to go in debt just looking at those. What exquisite pieces of craftsmanship, I like that humans enjoyed novelty even back then

[@pectenmaximus231]

Rachel’s German pronunciation is excellent

[@gagatube]

A most interesting video, thank you! I'm curious about the chain on the huntsman figure (which does not seem to be the same quality as the figure itself?). It appears to be removable, at one end, by removing the spear which allows the end-loop to slip off the huntsman's wrist. But why? What purpose does that serve? Also I support the calls to get the clockwork fixed (or replicated), I want to see what it does!

[@JGilbertMetal]

I bet it's attached to a pin or something on the table and when the mechanism is running, it would go around in a circle until it wound down. That would create a kind of "spin the bottle" situation. Perhaps when it stops in front of you you had to drink?

[@shandhaula]

As a French, this reminds me the hilarious sketch with "Les Inconnus" in Les Inconnus - Téléboutique achat (vin) With a fabulous _Modern & Designed silver wine taster..._

[@joeltham1979]

Take it to the Repair Shop they will fix that no problem. Very impressive piece.

[@murkyseb]

Very interesting

[@kerethmakura4502]

I remember things like that upon the table years ago.

[@AAFREAK]

One could also pour it more sideways. Beerfest came to mind. In the film, when the contestants had to face drinking from the dreaded 'Das Boot', the challengers' problem was to survive binging from the boot shaped glass as much as possible. One is inclined to drink with the boot kicking upwards, but eventually would surely be showered directly on the face from the backsplash once they reached the toe end. The American team figured a way around that by tipping the boot sideways so that they get the whole beer without spilling a drop. Lovely toys for sure though.

[@shamudogsmith1751]

The British Museum is my favourite place to visit. It's beautiful, educational and the closest thing we have to time travel. I would never visit the cesspit that is London if didn't house the BM, National Gallery and the Petrie Museum because it has very little else to recommend it.

[@SKILLED521]

Lovely object and lady!

[@PortCharmers]

A bit like these boot-shaped beer-glasses (the gestapo-officer in Inglourious Basterds uses one). If you drink with the tip up, you'll end up with a face full of beer (i mean the whole face).

[@DogFoxHybrid]

Sounds like something to bring back.

[@michaeldarby3503]

If you find this surplus to your requirements it would sit nicely in my modest silver collection.

[@iain-duncan]

You're a great presenter

[@anne1596]

Are all the parts to the mechanism still there? Could it possibly be recreated (maybe with 3D scanning?) so we could see how he moved?

[@aleisterlavey9716]

From what I see in the video I would say you load the spring with the gears on top (bottom in the animation) and the levers create a pseudorandom time interval in which it drives forward. To start it it seems you have to pull or push it. Most gears in the middle just seem to serve mainly as reduction for the speed regulator and as controll point for stop & go.

[@rolferikbaklkk6613]

Me want one for Xmas!

[@williamwalls9768]

Man I'm in love with mousey British lady.

[@ivanclark2275]

I was surprised when you said the provenance for the hunter was unknown. How far back does it’s provenance go?

[@talesdemidioful]

historians: "soo thats the accurate direction of how do they poured drinks" reality: " Aonolf! you always get me hammered! and i just cant believe your metal DOG have booze inside just like the flower pot"

[@donjones4719]

At first I thought the spear could be removed and there'd be some game about getting the spear through the loop in the chain - which could be hard if one is drunk. Can it be removed?

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

It looks like it should be able to slip through the hands, and that the oversized ring to which the chain is attached might then be large enough to slip over the hand, once the spear wasnt in the way...? Not sure what FOR! Although another commenter suggested maybe the ring could be secured to a wooden table, causing the device to travel in circles; might help with randomising the game?

[@konstantinavalentina3850]

It is mentioned that the clockworks don't work any more, but, i wonder, since I follow some channels that do antique fine mechanical watch repair if the mechanics of this fellow couldn't be seen by a watch maker and repair specialist for preservation and restoration work? There are many brilliant, talented, and very knowledgable/experienced watch-repair hobbyists on youtube alone that repair clockworks for fun, so, it would beg question as to what may prevent this from seeing the repair of its mechanics.

[@bleakrevel]

The clockwork is fixable my dad ran a shop doing exactly that for years.

[@platedlizard]

generally museums like this prefer to keep at the original parts without alteration and it’s possible something (maybe the spring) is internally broken and would need alteration to fix. The goal isn’t to make it work, it’s to preserve it as much as possible in its original state

[@aleisterlavey9716]

Better make a replica of it.

[@montiel1968]

I think I’m in love! She’s beautiful. If I ever travel to the other side of the pond, I’ll have to say hello. Thank you for a very informative and interesting video.

[@JETWTF]

Wasn't just one maker working on the clockwork and another on everything else. That is clearly evident by the lack of a makers mark, a signature if you will and that predates this piece. If it was one making the clockwork and another everything else there would be two makers marks. Craftsmen like artists want to be recognized for their work and the more skilled they are the more important the mark is to prevent fakes and forgeries as well as get the best sale price. That piece has no makers mark for either parts, that says it was a little done by one person and a little done by another. The base is wildly different than the character on top, base maybe made in one shop but artistically obvious it wasn't the same person/people who made the head stopper and character itself. The chain is very crudely made compared to the person and dog statues but also wildly different than the base just as the statues are. The piece is made by multiple people in multiple shops maybe even assembled and gilded in another.

[@ChrisLawton66]

You have interesting... phrasing.

[@briankroenung7995]

You can also pour it on its side.

[@Calum_S]

It's a bit like the "diver's lung test" pipe, that blows talc in your face if you get it wrong.

[@MPM6785ChitChat]

Well, if you self pour and are standing or somebody pours it - like the staff etc, then there's no spillage .

[@Nick-ye5kk]

Next we'll take a look at a 16th century clockwork dishwasher.

[@johnladuke6475]

Some folks out there still serving beer in boot-shaped cups for the same reason.

[@fredblonder7850]

How many times did this just run off the edge of the table?

[@d.ag.b1135]

They should make cheap replicas and sell them, I'd buy one!

[@petert93]

Unless you are drinking port with the Bishop of Norwich, you would be lucky to get a sip in

[@GaliSinatra]

Germans still do that today! Ever try drinking from a boot or the steins with the holes in them?

[@catcameron2495]

Ha-Ha, now I know the origin of my Granddad and Uncles dribble glasses. They thought they were hilarious!

[@bruisedhelmet8819]

Must have been a wild time.

[@IVWOR]

Дякую 👍

[@nope24601]

9:35 - SPOILER You tip it like any other bottle. So, the clockwork is useless.

[@furrystep]

I seem to have missed the automaton/ clockwork part! As far as a pouring-invisible-liquids-from-oddly-shaped-vessels tutorial: so-so.

[@okancanarslan3730]

I can listen her accent all day. Is it Scottish?

[@leeming1317]

10:45 hhaha they pranked them! Bro its for the gram!

[@nNiceDreamsMadeTrue]

oy show us some of the artifacts hidden away in fear of international uproar due to large portions of your collection being pillaged goods, now that would get views

[@darkcognitive]

Nice.

[@CrispFTW]

Das boot!!

[@djmoulton1558]

How is it that you cannot figure out how the guardsman's mechanism works? Are there pieces missing?

[@davidanderson5767]

Enjoy her word choice when talking about the head.

[@anastasialudwika]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

“Craftsperson” Love the PC language 🙄.

[@ShermanistDruid]

And these people are in charge of preserving history...

[@craigboden9455]

Ancient, posh, spin the bottle then basically?

[@madarab37]

Very interesting! You mentioned provenance and not knowing who it belongs to. If the huntsman was made in Germany I would imagine it would not belong to England. Does the British Museum make ANY effort to return items to their respective countries or actual owners?

[@johanneswerner1140]

Nah, the European nobility was very mobile and well connected (not to forget married to one another), so for me this seems very reasonable that it could have been a present or somebody "mail ordered" (more or less...) it from Nürnberg, or bought it for their uncle when doing the great tour. There is tons of Italian stuff in German museums that was acquired by dukes and stuff in the past. and I think this came from a bequest that predates the war, doesn't it? So, nah, this one is as kosher as it can be. The original owner might have been a pirate, gambler, ne'er do well, but since it is a long time ago he's more of a scallywag the great-gerat.. grandkids can boast about.

[@MrEazyE357]

Ha!

[@gambucino1260]

6:49 i would have wrote down: "tybb, for the free booze" hell yeah thats fucking crazy. the afterparty sounds like a hipster affair.

[@bigsiege1848]

Damn, Germany is dope

[@DVD927]

That huntsman is definitely for ages 5 and up lol

[@SpeedLockedNZ]

the Spear inserted into the huntsman would Pour the drink cleaner.

[@phoule76]

look at his cute little hunting horn 5:10

[@TheMasterninja22]

I need no further knowledge of anything ever. Thank you

[@widethigh6ix9ine]

Would pay big money for a drinking game like this

[@coreytripp9939]

in the 1600s they had fucking machines like this all over their royal and noblemen's estates, they had access to ancient Babylonian scriptures (hence the math we use today is based on Babylonian algebra), and unlike their ancestors before them they were actually about utilizing it instead of just hoarding it for themselves, well they still kept this stuff for themselves. Those families and that wealth and objects have been passed down since then, think of the shit they have now. I mean they had fucking flushing toilets hundreds of years before we did. I just wunna meet one of those people and get invited to their house and see all the cool shit that should be in museums.

[@mclovin583]

OMG what does it do??

[@Shackleford8]

I love that great shame followed any man who could not handle his alcohol. What a petty people we once were... I mean still are.

[@78625amginE]

Wonderful information on one of my favorite channels. Also, I’m debating whether is should be illegal to have such a beautiful accent…Mildly distracting.

[@shawnhall1893]

I would have gifted this item to the person I tricked with it. It's the honorable thing. I had my laugh, and paid for it in silver.

[@MuseumAllThings]

Looking at it, go forward and has a disc on the bottom that is used as a timer. I personally wound say it's not a drinking game because it never turns / can't turn to point at the person. It also as a fixed time, so it would choose the same person over and over?

[@ellenmadsen7308]

Why not just pour into a regular cup