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Communion cup and paten cover

Welsh (Carmarthen)
1577
Object Place: Europe, Carmarthen, Wales

Medium/Technique Silver
Dimensions H. 18.2 cm (7 3/16 in.); Diameter 8 cm (3 1/8 in.); Weight 223.6 gm (7 oz 7 dwt)
Credit Line Bequest of Frank Brewer Bemis
Accession Number35.1548
CollectionsEurope

DescriptionThe domed foot stands on a plain molded rim. The spool-shaped stem has a molded knop with hit-and-miss engraving and a border of stamped dentils at the top and bottom. The body of the cup has a slightly flaring rim and is engraved around the middle with an inscription and around the rim with foliage and strapwork. The domed cover has a spool-shaped finial that is engraved on the top with the date 1577. The domed foot is raised and the rim strengthened by an applied wire. The stem is formed of two raised pieces, joined at the center by a seamed ring. The body of the cup is a seamed cylinder with an applied base. The cover is raised with a seamed finial. There is evidence of repair on the interior rim of the cup as well as at the join of the stem to the base of the body.

Marks On side of cup and on dome of cover, four ovals (Jackson, rev. ed. 1989, p. 513)
InscriptionsEngraved around side of cup, POCULUM ECLESIE DE MELINE; engraved on top of paten, 1577
ProvenanceBy 1911, H.D. Ellis. March 28,1923, William E. Godfrey, New York (dealer) sold to Frank Brewer Bemis; 1935, bequest of Frank Brewer Bemis to the MFA. (Accession Date, November 7, 1935)