Silver, unmarked, Germany (Nuremberg?) around 1605-1610, probably by a follower of Christoph Jamnitzer. The finial a modern replacement.

Silver cup and lid, the bowl and lid shaped with six lobes, the foot with three lobes; six scenes from the Old Testament engraved round the rim of the cup; three winged grotesque female figures cast and applied to the stem; the lid has a replacement finial in the form of foliage, and round the rim is embossed cherub heads which alternate with apples; around the finial, the lid is embossed with three apples. The inside of the lid and bowl are gilded.

The rim of the cup shaped as six lobes, each lobe engraved with a scene from the Old Testament:
1. Adam and Eve embrace under the Tree of Life; Eve reaches for an apple, the serpent watches above (Genesis 3.6)
2. Cain murders his brother Abel (Genesis 4.8)
3. The Flood: the dove returns to Noah's Ark after failing to find dry land (Genesis 8.9) [cf. Étienne Delaune, Suite de la Genese, 1569]
4. The destruction of the city of Sodom / Lot's wife stands as a petrified figure / Lot's daughters make their father drunk (Genesis 19.31-32) [cf. Étienne Delaune, Première suite de l'Ancien Testament, 1561]
5. Abraham's hand stayed by an angel as he prepares to sacrifice Isaac, his son (Genesis 22.11) [cf. Étienne Delaune (attrib.), 'Suite de 6 petits sujets variés', 1567]
6. Jacob dreams of a ladder to the gate of heaven (Genesis 28.11-12) [cf. Étienne Delaune, Première suite de l'Ancien Testament, 1561]
Round the base of the cup: six embossed figures of putti holding attributes of the Arts and Sciences.

Gift of Mr. E.A. Phillips through The Art Fund

Sixteenth and seventeenth century German goldsmiths referred to this type of cup as an 'akeleypokal' or columbine cup, because its shape recalls the petals and bell-like form of the columbine flower. Cups like these were made to demonstrate the metalworking skills of candidates who wished to join the goldsmiths' guild in German towns, and they were also commissioned as gifts and used for display and ceremonial dining. This cup is one of a small group of late sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century examples which are unusual because they are neither gilded nor stamped with an assay mark. It has been suggested that the V&A cup represents a model for aspiring goldsmiths to copy, but the good condition of the cup, its lack of marks, and the existence of other, similar, ones, would seem to make this unlikely (Hayward: 1979, p. 202). Indeed, the gilding on the interior of the cup may be early and would suggest the piece was sometimes used. The figural decoration on the piece is also unusual: it combines six engraved scenes from the Old Testament round the rim of the bowl with six figures of putti embossed in high relief around the base of the bowl. Each putto holds attributes that represent the Liberal Arts. Four of the engraved scenes are closely based on engravings of Old Testament subjects published in the 1560s by the French engraver Étienne Delaune (Seelig: 2002, p. 191 and see Pollet: 2002, I, nos 57, 60, 116 and 82). The cup was once attributed to the hand of the Nuremberg goldsmith Christoph Jamnitzer (1563-1618), who published a series of designs for ornament in 1610, and who counted the Emperor Rudolph II as a patron; more recently it has been attributed to a follower of Jamnitzer (Seelig: 2002, p. 193). The significance of the initials 'B. C.' stamped on the lid and foot, and the letters 'BEN. CER' (or 'CEN') on the stem (which are mostly invisible because of their position) is not clear. They have been interpreted as a light-hearted allusion by Christoph to his skilled predecessor, the Italian goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (d. 1571), intended to remind the viewer of Jamnitzer's own talent, as well as simply the name of a member of Jamnitzer's workshop (Seelig: 2002, p. 193). The name 'Jacob', added twice in minute lettering to the scene of Jacob's Dream, is probably the signature of the engraver. The way the words are subtly worked into the design of the scene using different styles of lettering, suggest they are only meant to be discovered, if at all, by close looking. By contrast, the print source for the scene, Étienne Delaune's Première suite de l'Ancien Testament (1561), identifies the sleeping prophet with the name 'IACOB' clearly engraved in the lower left of the image.

M.196:1-1929