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Cup Case

1643 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A cylindrical turned contiainer of pearwood with a screw-on lid, containing 79 wafer-thin turned(?) beakers of beechwood, (possibly maple or limewood) stacked inside each other (it appears that there were originally 100 and the smallest 21 have been lost). The largest bears the number '100' and is dated 1643. The largest is 85 mm in diameter at the rim, the smallest surviving beaker 17 mm.

The outer case is turned, with an integral base, its turned bands carved and stamped with small crowns and repeating ornament. The top of the lid is carved with a flower motif with radiating petals. The underside of the container is incised with the number '100' and 'XXXXX' in two places.

Each cup has a scratched number. At a later time each beaker has been inscribed on the base in ink with a number which does not match the engraved number but is one or two numbers adrift. The six largest beakers have engraved decoration on the sides with scroll-work and plant motifs.

The largest cup is also engraved(?) with '1643', and on the opposite side '100' and the initials 'AM'. It has a turned point protruding at the bottom to slot into an intricately turned, carved and pierced stand, which has three loose turned rings around the upper section. The underside of the footrim of the stand is inscribed '1691'.

Condition.
The container and the lid each have a shrinkage crack radiating from the centre. A section of the upper rim is broken off.
Some of the hundred original beakers are missing, including the twenty-one smallest, since the numbering engraved on the side of each beaker starts at '22'. The smallest surviving beaker has split in two, and several of the largest have vertical splits. The stand for the largest cup has broken into several parts.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 83 parts.

  • Cup Case
  • Lid
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
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  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Tumbler
  • Part of Turned Foot
  • Part of Turned Foot
  • Part of Turned Foot
Materials and techniques
Pearwood case, turned, carved and stamped, containing a set of turned(?) beakers.
Brief description
Swiss/Bavarian (Berchtesgaden?), 1643, turned pearwood or beech with incised decoration
Physical description
A cylindrical turned contiainer of pearwood with a screw-on lid, containing 79 wafer-thin turned(?) beakers of beechwood, (possibly maple or limewood) stacked inside each other (it appears that there were originally 100 and the smallest 21 have been lost). The largest bears the number '100' and is dated 1643. The largest is 85 mm in diameter at the rim, the smallest surviving beaker 17 mm.

The outer case is turned, with an integral base, its turned bands carved and stamped with small crowns and repeating ornament. The top of the lid is carved with a flower motif with radiating petals. The underside of the container is incised with the number '100' and 'XXXXX' in two places.

Each cup has a scratched number. At a later time each beaker has been inscribed on the base in ink with a number which does not match the engraved number but is one or two numbers adrift. The six largest beakers have engraved decoration on the sides with scroll-work and plant motifs.

The largest cup is also engraved(?) with '1643', and on the opposite side '100' and the initials 'AM'. It has a turned point protruding at the bottom to slot into an intricately turned, carved and pierced stand, which has three loose turned rings around the upper section. The underside of the footrim of the stand is inscribed '1691'.

Condition.
The container and the lid each have a shrinkage crack radiating from the centre. A section of the upper rim is broken off.
Some of the hundred original beakers are missing, including the twenty-one smallest, since the numbering engraved on the side of each beaker starts at '22'. The smallest surviving beaker has split in two, and several of the largest have vertical splits. The stand for the largest cup has broken into several parts.
Dimensions
  • Height: 205mm
  • Diameter: 100mm
Measured by Conservation, 2012
Marks and inscriptions
  • 100, AM, XXXXX, XXXXX, 1643 (On side of largest cup)
  • 1691 (On underside of footrim of stem for largest cup.)
Object history
The set was bought from Mr W. Colson, Newcastle on Tyne for thirty pounds in 1969. RF68/1878

There is a discrepancy in the dates inscribed on the largest cup, the turned cup dated 1643 and the footrim 1691. Possibly the footrim was a replacement.
Collection
Accession number
W.20:1-1969

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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