Communion cup and paten
1559-1560
- Medium
- silver
- Measurements
- (1) 19.9 × 10.7 cm diameter (communion cup)
(2) 6.1 × 13.5 cm diameter (paten) - Place/s of Execution
- London, England
- Inscription
- (1) punched in outside of upper rim u.l.: b
punched in outside of upper rim u.c.: (crowned leopard's head)
punched (diagonally) in outside of upper rim u.c.l.: (lion passant)
punched (diagonally) (inverted) in outside of upper rim u.c.r.: (...illeg.) / .
(2) punched (diagonally) in outside of upper rim u.c.: (...illeg.) W / . (crowned leopard's head)
punched (diagonally) (inverted) in outside of upper rim u.r.: (lion passant)
punched (diagonally) in outside of upper rim u.r.: b - Accession Number
- D201.1-2-1973
- Department
- International Decorative Arts
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1973
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
-
In the 1530s King Henry VIII of England enacted a number of laws by which the English church broke away from the authority of the Pope. Significant changes took place to the rituals of the Church of England. This Communion cup reflects these innovations. In the pre-Reformation Catholic ritual of the Eucharist only the priests partook of wine. In the Protestant ritual, the wine was shared by the whole congregation, requiring a vessel of much larger capacity. The Communion cup’s form reflects contemporary domestic drinking vessels in a conscious effort to distinguish it from the traditional shape of the chalice.
- Physical description
- Cup: flat bottomed, trumpet shaped bowl, everted rim, engraved ornament. Paten: plain, circular.
