Cup, Cover and Spice Box
1620 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This cup and cover with removable spice-box bears the arms of both King James I and the Prince of Wales, the future Charles I. A number of similar cups are known to exist; this cup is one of four in the collection of the V&A. Most are made from turned pearwood, incised with heraldic animals, and date from the early 17th century. The closeness in design of the majority of these cups, and of their date of production, may suggest that they came from a single workshop, or were the work of a single craftsperson.
It is not certain exactly what this type of cup would have been used for. The most regular interpretation is that they were communion cups used by private chapels, or by chapels that could not afford silver. However, the use of wood as a material for holding the host had been forbidden by the Canons of Winchester since around 1071, as its porous nature would cause the wine to be absorbed.
Other theories concerning their use range from the humdrum (being prototypes for silver communion cups) to the glamorous (the insignia of an exclusive society). The latter notion holds some weight, it has been suggested that the armorials are the crests of founding members of such a society.
It is not certain exactly what this type of cup would have been used for. The most regular interpretation is that they were communion cups used by private chapels, or by chapels that could not afford silver. However, the use of wood as a material for holding the host had been forbidden by the Canons of Winchester since around 1071, as its porous nature would cause the wine to be absorbed.
Other theories concerning their use range from the humdrum (being prototypes for silver communion cups) to the glamorous (the insignia of an exclusive society). The latter notion holds some weight, it has been suggested that the armorials are the crests of founding members of such a society.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Turned and engraved pearwood |
| Brief description | Standing cup and cover, engraved wood, arms of Great Britain and Ireland, England, 1620 |
| Physical description | Standing cup and cover with spice box. Turned pearwod, engraved with the arms of Great Britain and Ireland, the coronet of the Prince of Wales, heraldic birds and animals, quotations from Scripture, and poetry relating to the subject of the Eucharist. On the stem there are carnations, and on the upper side of the foot roses. The globular spice box attaches to the cover using a hit-and-miss closure, and the acorn-shaped finial in turn screws into the top of the spice box. Upon the spice box there are four panels containing: 1) a fox rampant 2) a parrot statant 3) a panther sejant 4) a goose statant Upon the bowl: 1) the arms of England surrounded by a garter and the motto, and supported by a lion and a unicorn. 2) a hart gorged with a coronet and chained, the chain running from the coronet and between its forelegs and over its back (Lisle) 3) the Prince of Wales' feathers issuing from a crown. 4) a wyvern holding in its mouth a hand (Herbert) Upon the cover: 1) a salamander crowned 2) a griffin couchant 3) a porcupine crowned (Sidney) 4) an elephant passant (Knollys) |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by the Rev. G. Townshend Hudson |
| Object history | Given to the Museum in 1872 by Rev. G. Townshend Hudson. |
| Historical context | The exact use of this type of cup is not clear. It had been thought that they were fashionable communion cups, although the use of wood as a vessel for the host had been forbidden by the Canons of Winchester as early as 1071. Pinto relates that they could have been the cups of Royal Cupbearers, and though some of the crests relate to holders of this office, most had held it before the reign of James I. The likelihood of their having been prototypes for silverware is thrown into doubt by the lack of any known replicas made in silver. Pinto proposed that they may have been 'part of the insignia of some exclusive 17th century society', similar to, or perhaps an ancestor to, the Honorable Order of Little Bedlam, a social club founded by the 5th Earl of Exeter in 1684. |
| Production | The decoration would most likely have been executed with a hot thin steel implement on a carefully prepared surface, which would have been very smooth and probably glazed first. This would have been difficult to achieve, as heat could not be controlled very carefully, and so the designs may have been first finely gouged or incised and then later darkened. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Associations | |
| Literary reference | Matthew 6:33 |
| Summary | This cup and cover with removable spice-box bears the arms of both King James I and the Prince of Wales, the future Charles I. A number of similar cups are known to exist; this cup is one of four in the collection of the V&A. Most are made from turned pearwood, incised with heraldic animals, and date from the early 17th century. The closeness in design of the majority of these cups, and of their date of production, may suggest that they came from a single workshop, or were the work of a single craftsperson. It is not certain exactly what this type of cup would have been used for. The most regular interpretation is that they were communion cups used by private chapels, or by chapels that could not afford silver. However, the use of wood as a material for holding the host had been forbidden by the Canons of Winchester since around 1071, as its porous nature would cause the wine to be absorbed. Other theories concerning their use range from the humdrum (being prototypes for silver communion cups) to the glamorous (the insignia of an exclusive society). The latter notion holds some weight, it has been suggested that the armorials are the crests of founding members of such a society. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Edward H. Pinto, Treen and other wooden bygones, London: G. Bell & Sons, 1969
pp. 34-37; plate 55 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 275 to C-1872 |
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| Record created | July 25, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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