Object Description
A stunningly beautiful James I silver wine cup with the original mercurial gold finish. Standing on a spreading foot, it has a baluster stem with three applied scroll brackets. The tapering bowl of the cup is deeply hand chased with foliate ornament and beneath the lip is an engraved band interspersed with simple swags. The bowl has an inscription in old fashioned script (very faint) “Keepe faith til death” with initials below. It’s very rare to find a piece of pre-reformation silver made for secular use.
Contains 150ml.
Weight 169g, 5.4 troy oz.
Height 18.2cm,
London, 1617
Maker’s mark “double-headed eagle”.
Sterling silver.
An exceptional example of early English silver displaying the hand crafted expertise of a bygone age. We particularly like the pale golden glow of the antique patina.
Marks. Stamped below the rim with a full set of English silver hallmarks; lion mark under the foot. There are some faint engravings including an inscription to the bowl and initials on top of base “AC AC” (worn).
Maker. The maker’s mark “double-headed eagle” is recorded in Jackson’s Goldsmiths and Their Marks (1989, p.109). We know nothing more of the maker however this mark seems to have belonged to a well-established silversmith who produced high quality work, possibly from as early as 1591. Wine cups such as the present example were a particular speciality, with examples recorded from 1612 and 1617.
Other recorded works by this maker are:
– wine cup (sold Christie’s, London, 21 Nov 2018, lot 21
– tankard formerly in the Swaythling collection (sold Christie’s, London, 6 May 1924, lot 108)
– inkstand (sold Christie’s, London, 7 July 1909, lot 40)
– standing salt (C.J. Jackson, An Illustrated History of English Plate, London, 1911, p. 555, pl. 765)
No maker assigned
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