Two-Handled Cup and Cover

1668/69

In the seventeenth century, two-handled cups were used to hold a variety of liquids, including mixtures of spiced alcohol and gruel, which could be sipped or eaten with a spoon. The decorations on the cup’s belly—beaten into relief from the back in a technique called repoussé—include images of a running stag and a roaring lion.

Medium	silver
Dimensions	Height: 7 7/16 in. (18.9 cm) Width at handle: 10 13/16 in. (27.5 cm) Lip diameter: 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm) Base diameter: 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm) Troy weight: 40.45 toz (1258.1 g)
Object Number	1955.336
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Maker's mark IN, mullet below, in heart-shaped surround, Two-Handled Cup and Cover, 1668/69, silver. Clark Art Institute, 1955.336

Select Bibliography

Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute. Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute Presents an Exhibition of Silver of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute, 1952. Comstock, Helen. "The Connoisseur in America." Connoisseur 106 (Sept. 1940): 716. Wees, Beth Carver. English, Irish, and Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1997.

Provenance

William Randolph Hearst, sale Sotheby's, London, 17 November 1937, lot 53 (The Property of a Gentleman, a well-known Collector);¹ bought Crichton Brothers, London; sold to Robert Sterling Clark, 17 November 1937. 1. Although the auction catalogue makes no mention of the seller, he was immediately identified in the press, for example, "Small Bids Made for Hearst Silver," New York Times, 18 November 1937, p. 25.