Cup and Cover
| Place of origin |
This exotic hardwood cup was considered a precious rarity and first mounted in Augsburg in the late 16th century. Natural materials from outside Europe were sought-after rarities which were treasured, collected for cabinets of curiosity and mounted in precious materials.
Cups with silver-mounts of this type would hold a variety of exotic materials, including coconut shells and lignum vitae (wood of life), one of the hardest and heaviest woods known. It was considered to have been the wood used for the cross of Christ. The wood used for this cup is significantly lighter, but also from a tropic region. Such woods were imported into central Europe from the mid sixteenth century onwards.
This cup was acquired by Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde. They formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert moved his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996, it is now on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Cups with silver-mounts of this type would hold a variety of exotic materials, including coconut shells and lignum vitae (wood of life), one of the hardest and heaviest woods known. It was considered to have been the wood used for the cross of Christ. The wood used for this cup is significantly lighter, but also from a tropic region. Such woods were imported into central Europe from the mid sixteenth century onwards.
This cup was acquired by Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde. They formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert moved his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996, it is now on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Object details
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Silver, filigree piercing, silver-gilt, turned wood |
| Brief description | Standing cup and cover, silver, silver-gilt and wood, South Germany, early 17th century. |
| Physical description | Standing cup and cover, the cup with a baluster stem, the wooden bowl and lid covered with pierced silver filigree, the interior lined with silver-gilt |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | The lid of this cup bears a Nürnberg mark while the cup has been punched with the hall mark and maker’s mark of Augsburg goldsmith Paulus Hübner. His set of marks is known to have been used in the late sixteenth century while the Nürnberg hall mark was in use between 1608 and 1618. The difference in dating is a possible indication for an alteration which included the introduction of the intricate piercing. The ornament of the intricate pierced work is close to designs by Paul or Paulus Flindt (baptised on 6 October 1567) whose Nürnberg maker’s mark is also on the lid of this cup. Flindt excelled in particular as a designer and published several volumes of designs for goldsmiths work between 1593 and 1618. Only in 1601 he became a goldsmith master. The ornament on this cup is comparable to some of his early designs, published in 1593 (V&A object numbers E.4287 & 4292-1907 in particular). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This exotic hardwood cup was considered a precious rarity and first mounted in Augsburg in the late 16th century. Natural materials from outside Europe were sought-after rarities which were treasured, collected for cabinets of curiosity and mounted in precious materials. Cups with silver-mounts of this type would hold a variety of exotic materials, including coconut shells and lignum vitae (wood of life), one of the hardest and heaviest woods known. It was considered to have been the wood used for the cross of Christ. The wood used for this cup is significantly lighter, but also from a tropic region. Such woods were imported into central Europe from the mid sixteenth century onwards. This cup was acquired by Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde. They formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert moved his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996, it is now on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum. |
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| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.62:1-2008 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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