ECS-S.93-2014
Parts
Object number
ECS-S.93-2014
Object type
Identification
Title
Elizabethan Communion Cup and Paten
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Silver-gilt communion cup (chalice) and paten; engraved portraits in profile within roundels
Comments
'The first [Eton College Collections chalice] in date of the original vessels in the Chapel is an unusually large chalice (or more properly a communion cup) with a paten-cover, of the date 1569-70, engraved with the conventional strapwork amd arabesques of Elizabethan decoration and with the un-ecclesiastical embellishments of male and female busts, suggesting the influence of Tudor wood-carving. The date suggests that this vessel was acquired in response to the visitation article in 1569 of Matthew Parker, first Archbishop of Canterbury after the Reformation, "whether they do minister in any profane cuppes, bowles, dishes, or chalices heretofore used at masse: or els in a decent Communion cuppe, provided and kept for that purpose."'
[Source: Jones, E. Alfred, 'The Plate of Eton College', The London Saint Catherine Press, 1938, p.xx]
The large, deep beaker-shaped body of this Elizabethan Communion Cup is engraved with conventional patterns of interlaced hatched straps, enclosing arabesques. The central band is similarly engraved and the design includes two male and two female busts.
Chalice and Paten
[Source: Jones, E. Alfred, 'The Plate of Eton College', The London Saint Catherine Press, 1938, p.xx]
The large, deep beaker-shaped body of this Elizabethan Communion Cup is engraved with conventional patterns of interlaced hatched straps, enclosing arabesques. The central band is similarly engraved and the design includes two male and two female busts.
Chalice and Paten
Other number
93
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 286mm
diameter (actual size): 138mm
diameter (actual size): 123mm
diameter (actual size): 161mm
diameter (actual size): 138mm
diameter (actual size): 123mm
diameter (actual size): 161mm
Inscription description
Both Chalice and Paten:
Leopards head crowned
Lion passant
Date mark: 1569-1570
Maker's mark: IP
Leopards head crowned
Lion passant
Date mark: 1569-1570
Maker's mark: IP
Material
silver
Physical description
Chalice: Silver gilt, large and deep, beaker shaped, chased and engraved with interlaced hatched straps, enclosing arabesques. Around the centre is a band with similar decoration enclosing two engraved male busts and two female busts. Top and bottom of the stem have egg and dart moulding with bands of hatching and arabesques separated by a narrow knop.
Paten: A reel-shaped foot supports a plate with an engraved band of arabesques.
Paten: A reel-shaped foot supports a plate with an engraved band of arabesques.
Production
Date
1569-1570
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Probably purchased by Eton College in 1569/1570
Exhibited: 'Humphrey Ocean: Fresh as Paint', The Verey Gallery, Eton College, 9 June to 30 October 2022, catalogue number 13
Exhibited: 'Humphrey Ocean: Fresh as Paint', The Verey Gallery, Eton College, 9 June to 30 October 2022, catalogue number 13
References
• Jones, E. Alfred, The Plate of Eton College, The London Saint Catherine Press, 1938 (p.52 pl XXV)
• Hussey, C. Eton College, 2nd Ed., 1926 (p. 126 pl. 2)
• Hussey, C. Eton College, 2nd Ed., 1926 (p. 126 pl. 2)
