Collection Online
Covered goblet
Medium
glass (diamond-point engraved)
Measurements
(a-b) 31.5 × 10.2 cm diameter (overall)
Place/s of Execution
England
Inscription
(a) engraved in bowl u.c.: Salus patriæ et Ecclesiæ
(b) engraved in outside of lower rim: LIBERTATIS ET RELIGIONIS.
Accession Number
1846.a-b-D5
Department
International Decorative Arts
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1968
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work

The diamond-point engraving on this ceremonial covered goblet is executed in a manner very close to that of the great Dutch amateur glass engraver Willem van Heemskerk. The bowl of the goblet is engraved with the words Salus patriæ et Ecclesiæ (Welfare of country and church), and the lid bears the words Libertatis et Religionis (Of freedom and religion). The highly accomplished engraving has all the freedom of the finest contemporary seventeenth-century ink-and-paper calligraphy. The fluid scrolling flourishes of the script, encompassing the whole of the bowl of the glass, are expansive to the point of becoming pure ornament.

Physical description
Ceremonial goblet, lead metal slightly crizzled.