Copper-gilt chalice. A bell shaped cup sits on an hexagonal stem engraved with plants

Copper-gilt chalice. A bell shaped cup sits on an hexagonal stem engraved with plants; the knot has six protruding diamond shaped bosses. The foot is hexagonal with incurved sides and is tinned underneath. One facet of the foot is engraved with the Crucifixion and a Latin inscription. There are deep scratches on the outside of the bowl.

Possibly from the tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury 1450-1481, whose remains were discovered when his chantry-chapel in Salisbury Cathedral was demolished in 1789.See Museum file RF 61/3746.

The practice of interring chalices with bishops had a precedent at Salisbury cathedral. The History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962) notes that among the cathedral plate recorded in 1960 was a silver-gilt burial chalice with paten, reputed to have come from the tomb of Bishop Nicholas Longespée (d. 1297). A burial chalice and paten have also been discovered at Milton Abbey Church in Dorset.
A note in the Victoria and Albert Museum Metalwork departmental register, dated 1961, from the Treasurer of Salisbury cathedral states that no record exists of Bishop Beauchamp's tomb having been opened by Wyatt during the demolition of the chantry chapel - and it is not possible to say with certainty that this chalice came from it, but it does seem probable. The chalice has been dated on stylistic grounds to ca. 1500 and has therfore been linked to the contemporary Richard Beauchamp Bishop of Salisbury rather than his more famous predecessor of the same name.

Richard Beauchamp (d. 1481), Bishop of Salisbury, was probably born in Wiltshire, the younger son of Sir Walter Beauchamp. The family's kinship was acknowledged by Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, who was tutor to the child Henry VI.
He studied at Oxford University, possibly being resident in Exeter College in 1440 and seems to have been promoted directly from university life to the episcopate. This was a promotion based essentially on birth and personal royal favour, but Beauchamp had academic and intellectual qualities to justify it, and intended to make a diocesan, not political, career.

Even as Beauchamp was engaged in establishing himself at Hereford, Bishop William Aiscough of Salisbury was murdered on 29 June and his episcopal manors looted. Beauchamp was swiftly translated to fill the vacant see on 14 August.
Beauchamp's personal position was difficult as civil war became a reality. Henry VI and the queen regarded him as an intimate supporter. On the other hand, the bishop was a kinsman of Anne Beauchamp, wife of Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, and had known her when they were young.

Beauchamp died during an inspection of monastic houses on 18 October 1481. In an emotional will made two days before, he traced the stages of a man's life and declared that he had come to the extremity of old age. He left his ‘most singular’ lord, Edward IV, a ‘great and sumptuous bible’, and all his estates for a chantry of four priests in whichever of his two new chapels in the cathedral (in the event, the one on the south side of the lady chapel) his executors selected for his burial. All his servants were given six months' salary and a month's expense-free lodging. His nephew, Sir Richard Beauchamp, received a handsome bequest and headed the executors with Bishop John Morton. Beauchamp had been born to privilege, but he devoted his life to deserving it. Like several others advanced by Henry VI, he owed too much to personal favour, was no political helpmate, but made an excellent bishop.

The chalice was in the 19th century in the collections of AW Pugin and Hardman, according the sale description, see Christie's, November 28, 1961, lot 22

The chalice bears an inscription in Latin - pray for the soul of Richard Beauchamp.This particular chalice may owe its preservation to having been buried with Bishop Richard Beauchamp of Salisbury, following his death in 1481.It was probably originally made for use in church, and used for burial when of some age. The practice of burying a chalice in the grave of a priest was widespread in medieval Europe, and many of the medieval chalices which survive in England come from graves. Most are of silver or pewter; this piece in copper is of great rarity. Very little of the medieval metalwork kept at Salisbury Cathedral survived the destructive force of the English Reformation. Amongst the cathedral plate in Salisbury is a silver-gilt burial chalice with paten, reputed to have come from the tomb of Bishop Nicholas Longespée (d. 1297).

M.42-1961