XI. —Note on a Gold Standing Cup in the possession of the Duke of Portland, K.G.

Abstract

Gold plate is of such rare occurrence that I have thought it would be agreeable to the Society to see the very handsome example that the Duke of Portland has been good enough to send up at my request from Welbeck for exhibition. (Plate LXIV.) The metal is evidently of high quality, and the form is by no means inelegant for the period at which it was made. The bowl is beaten into a shell-like form, with elaborate projecting scroll-work enamelled and set with jewels, and having at the back a figure of Pan with Cupid seated astride of his neck all modelled in the round; the stem is formed of a pair of lovers embracing, and the foot is of a lozenge form made up of a number of enamelled scrolls alternating with jewelled bands. The whole of the work is of the most minute finish, not only as regards the chasing and engraving of the gold, but the figures that form so important a feature of the design are modelled with unusual vigour and artistic perfection, and there can be no reasonable doubt that they are the work of a master. I have not, however, been able to trace the artist during the short time the cup has been in my custody. The enamelled work is of interest in the history of the craft, for it well illustrates the transition from the method that characterised the jewellery of the sixteenth century to that prevalent in the seventeenth. The former is commonly found during the last three quarters of the sixteenth century, and consists in cutting away the ground of the design down to a certain depth, and the engraved portions are then filled in with enamel, leaving the design itself in the metal. This style of work required great dexterity on the part of the engraver, for the dividing lines of gold were often of great thinness, and the slightest deviation of the graver would instantly catch the eye and destroy the quality of the work. This class of enamelled decoration for jewellery was succeeded in the seventeenth century by another of a similar effect, but not requiring anything like the same care.