Chalice, silver, parcel-gilt, enamels and semi-precious stones, Birmingham hallmarks for 1868-9, mark of John Hardman and Co, designed by A.W.N. Pugin

Chalice, silver, parcel -gilt, enamels and semi precious stones. Rounded bowl with engraved inscription, large calyx with panels of vertical foliage. Knot bosses with blue enamel and applied embossed silver foliage and set with semi-precious stones. On the foot a crucifixion with sun and moon in silver reserved on red enamel, five panels of blue enamel with applied silver foliage and central carbuncle, interspersed with embossed leaves set with crystal. The foot pierced with delicate quatrefoils.

Lent by St. George's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Southwark

Furnishing the Church
A new business of church furnishing arose from the great surge in church building and restoration. Between 1840 and 1900, over 100 churches were built each year. Older buildings were restored or expanded. Every denomination from Anglican and Roman Catholic to Nonconformist was reacting to the widespread religious revival and the needs of an expanding population. Fitting out such large numbers of churches required specialist firms who could supply the complete range of furnishings. Clergy no longer commissioned individual tailors, furniture makers and silversmiths. Instead, stained glass windows, cl[Erical vestments and silver altar plate could all be ordered from church furnishers like Jones & Willis, Cox & Sons and John Hardman. These specialists would supply the correct equipment, as prescribed by the church reformers. They offered a choice of material, quality and prices to suit the resources of wealthy and poorer parishes. J. Whippell & Co. About 1902 Kind permission of J. Whippell & Co., Exeter

Leading Taste
The building, restoration and furnishing of churches were important outlets for Victorian creative talent. For some architects it was the mainstay of their business. The taste for the Gothic style, which became dominant though not universal,was led by architects like A.W.N. Pugin. Many Anglican architects were affiliated to reforming societies and closely concerned with design policy. Some were employed by commercial firms such as Cox & Sons to give their products a veneer of authenticity. In England so many medieval church fittings had been destroyed in the Reformation that architects were obliged to invent new forms. William Butterfield, the first official designer of the Cambridge Camden Society, modelled flagons on smaller medieval cruet shapes.

This elaborate and costly chalice was used during the Mass to serve the consecrated wine. It was designed by A.W.N. Pugin, the influential architect who promoted the Gothic as the true Christian style. The manufacturer was John Hardman & Co., the Birmingham ecclesiastical suppliers with whom Pugin was closely associated.

The chalice is a larger and more elaborate version of an earlier design that Pugin made for his patron, the Revd D.H. Haigh, in 1849–50. It shows that his designs were held in such high esteem that they were manufactured long after his death in 1852. Some remained in the Hardman catalogues until 1900. The designs were adapted to suit the needs of particular clients, and it has even been suggested that Pugin’s pupil, John Hardman Powell, may have reworked this particular design.

LOAN:SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL.3-2005