Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 69, The Whiteley Galleries

cup

Cup and Cover
1568 (made)
Place of origin

Coconut mounted in elaborately chased silver bands, the lid surmounted by a figure of a warrior holding a shield engraved with a crest in the form of a finger ring. The coconut stands on a chased bell shaped foot and stand. The coconut is carved with scenes from three stories of Classical mythology: Diana, in her bath, changes Actaeon the hunter into a stag; Venus watches her lover Adonis die after he is gored by a wild pig (his mother Myrrah is depicted to his right as she is transformed into a myrrh tree); 'the Judgement of Paris' - when Paris, a prince of Troy, asked by Jupiter to choose the fairest among Venus, Minerva and Juno, chooses the goddess Venus and hands her a golden apple, engraved 'to the Fairest'.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Cups
  • Cover (Closure)
Titlecup (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Coconut, carved, and mounted with chased, cast and engraved silver.
Brief description
Cup with lid, coconut and silver mounts, Dutch (Amsterdam), around 1568, the carved cup with monogram 'W.T.S' of unidentified carver.
Physical description
Coconut mounted in elaborately chased silver bands, the lid surmounted by a figure of a warrior holding a shield engraved with a crest in the form of a finger ring. The coconut stands on a chased bell shaped foot and stand. The coconut is carved with scenes from three stories of Classical mythology: Diana, in her bath, changes Actaeon the hunter into a stag; Venus watches her lover Adonis die after he is gored by a wild pig (his mother Myrrah is depicted to his right as she is transformed into a myrrh tree); 'the Judgement of Paris' - when Paris, a prince of Troy, asked by Jupiter to choose the fairest among Venus, Minerva and Juno, chooses the goddess Venus and hands her a golden apple, engraved 'to the Fairest'.
Dimensions
  • Across foot diameter: 9.9cm
  • Base of foot to top of finial on lid height: 32.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • The rim marked with the town mark for Amsterdam, a date-letter 'A', probably for the year 1568, a crowned 'V' - Dutch tax mark for the period 1813-1893. Four zig-zag assay marks on the foot; two zig-zag assay marks on the lid.
  • The initials 'W. T. S' carved on the rim of the bath in the scene from the myth of Diana and Actaeon.
Gallery label
  • Cup and cover. Cocoa-nut, in silver mounting, carved in three panels, with the legend of Diana and Actaeon, and other classical subjects; the mounting chased with cartouche work, masks and fruits surmounted by a statuette of a warrior holding a shield, on which is a finger ring. Dutch. About 1580. H. 12½ in., diam. 3 7/8 in. Bought (Bernal coll.), 19l 10s. 2117-'55. [Note the label has been amended in 1904: 'chased' deleted from the description and 'repoussé' written above; note added: 'Amsterdam Hall-mark. Date-letter A'.](1855)
  • Silver Gallery: This coconut is elaborately carved with the scenes from the mythological stories of Diana and Actaeon, Daphne and Apollo and the Judgement of Paris; it is signed on the edge of the bath in the Diana panel with the artist's initials, WTF.(26/11/2002)
Credit line
Purchased with funds from the Capt. H. B. Murray Bequest
Object history
The Museum purchased the cup at the sale of the collection of Ralph Bernal, auctioned at Christie's London in 1855, where it was lot 1409.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Bibliographic references
  • Oman, Charles, The Golden Age of Dutch Silver, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1953
  • Schroder, Timothy. The Gilbert Collection of Gold and Silver. Los Angeles: LACMA, 1988.
  • Filedt Kok, J.P., W. Halsema-Kubes and W. Th. Kloek, eds. Kunst voor de beeldenstorm. Noordnederlandse kunst 1525-1580. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 13 September - 23 November 1986. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1986.
  • W.Th. Kloek, W. Halsema-Kubes and R.J. Baarsen, translated by Patricia Wardle, Art before the iconoclasm : northern Netherlandish art, 1525- 1580. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1986. [Published in English as an introduction (vol. I) to the exhibition of the same title in the Rijksmuseum, 13 September-23 November 1986.]
  • Glanville, Philippa. Exhibition review: 'Art before iconoclasm: the decorative arts'. In: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 129, No. 1008 (March 1987), pp. 202-204.
Collection
Accession number
2117:1, 2-1855

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Record createdFebruary 18, 2004
Record URL
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