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Chalice
Byzantine
Early Byzantine Period
6th century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
Height (max.): 18 cm. (7 1/16 in.); Width (max. at handles): 26.6 cm (10 1/2 in.); Width (bowl): 16 cm (6 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Mary S. and Edward J. Holmes Fund
Accession Number1971.633
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
This elegant silver chalice, used to hold the wine of the Eucharist, served as part of a liturgical set for an early Byzantine church. In technique and form-partly gilded silver hammered into a broad cup attached by a knob to a flared foot-it is close to sixth-century chalices found in northern Syria. These luxury objects attest to the considerable prosperity of this region, due in large part to its agricultural bounty. From the fourth through seventh centuries, this great wealth enabled even small, rural communities to finance the construction of many churches and acquire sumptuous liturgical equipment.
Each side of this cup is decorated with a large engraved and gilded Christogram (a combination of chi and rho, the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek); the letters alpha and omega (the first and last in the Greek alphabet) that hang from the chi refer to Christ as the beginning and the end of all things (Rev. 1:8). Around the rim of the cup is an inscription inlaid with a dark metallic substance called niello: "Having vowed, Sara offered this cup to the First Martyr Stephen." This dedication, which follows the form of inscriptions including the names of donors and Christograms found on the stone door lintels of churches and houses in Syria, indicates that a woman gave the valuable chalice in thanks for answered prayers.
Each side of this cup is decorated with a large engraved and gilded Christogram (a combination of chi and rho, the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek); the letters alpha and omega (the first and last in the Greek alphabet) that hang from the chi refer to Christ as the beginning and the end of all things (Rev. 1:8). Around the rim of the cup is an inscription inlaid with a dark metallic substance called niello: "Having vowed, Sara offered this cup to the First Martyr Stephen." This dedication, which follows the form of inscriptions including the names of donors and Christograms found on the stone door lintels of churches and houses in Syria, indicates that a woman gave the valuable chalice in thanks for answered prayers.
Catalogue Raisonné
Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 051.
DescriptionThe cup has ring handles topped by flat plates of lunate form with trapezoidal projections in the line of the handles. An inscribed band between the handles is flanked by a gilded profiled rim (above) and a gilded profiled band below. The body is hemispherical. The high foot consists of a concave, then bulbous stem and a conical support with broad, horizontal flange below. The niello-inlaid inscription (in Greek capital letters) translates: "Sarah prayed and made [this] offering to the First Martyr" (Saint Stephen). Also (each side) is a gilded Christogram composed of a chi and rho (the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek) flanked by alpha and Omega. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, signifying that Christ is the beginning and end of all things.
Areas of the bowl are filled in; foot is straightened and repaired.
Areas of the bowl are filled in; foot is straightened and repaired.
ProvenanceSaid to have been found in Syria. Fouad Alouf (dealer), Beirut, Lebanon [see note]. 1970, said to have been acquired in Switzerland by Robert E. Hecht, Jr., New York; 1971, sold by Robert Hecht to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 8, 1971).
NOTE: Published by Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Byzantine Silver Treasures (Bern: Abegg-Stiftung, 1973), p. 15, fig. 7, and pp. 24-25, where the accompanying paten is said to still be in the collection of Alouf. Both are said to have been found in Syria.
NOTE: Published by Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Byzantine Silver Treasures (Bern: Abegg-Stiftung, 1973), p. 15, fig. 7, and pp. 24-25, where the accompanying paten is said to still be in the collection of Alouf. Both are said to have been found in Syria.