Of the later Saxon domestic utensils nothing remains, the habit of burying such objects with the dead having ceased on the gradual introduction of Christianity through the country. Manuscripts are our only resource, and they are not only of great rarity, but in the main rudely and conventionally drawn in their details. In those of the 9th to the 11th century various simple forms are seen, some resembling our modern tumbler in shape, others like a dice box. Horns as drinking vessels certainly retained their popularity at all times, surviving especially among the northern nations, and many of the vessels of this form were no doubt actual horns, though horn-shaped vessels were often made of other materials. Until we come to the 13th and 14th centuries there is an absolute dearth of the actual objects used in domestic life. And here we begin with plate used in the service of the church.

The drinking vessel possessing the most unbroken history is doubtless the chalice of the Christian Church.[4] Like other ceremonial objects it was no doubt differentiated from the drinking cups in ordinary use by a gradual transition, Church vessels. and in the early centuries it is unlikely that it differed either in form or material from the ordinary domestic vessel of the time. Figures of such vessels, apparently with a symbolic intention, are found upon early Christian tombstones, and it has been contended that the vessel indicated the grave of a priest. While this may be the case, the similarity of the vessel represented to the ordinary non-liturgical form renders the conclusion somewhat weak. Among objects found under conditions which lend colour to their specific use as chalices are the bottoms of glass vessels found inserted in plaster in the Catacombs at Rome; but here again the Jesuit Padre Garrucci was unable to find any evidence to support such a conclusion. It is not in fact until the 6th century that the sacred vessel would appear to have assumed a definite form. From about that time date the lost golden chalices of Monza, representations of which still exist in that city; and the famous chalice of Gourdon in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris is probably of about the same time. All of these are two-handled with a vase-shaped body and supported on a high foot; and thus quite unlike the more recent medieval types. Two glass vases of exactly this two-handled form are in the Slade collection at the British Museum, and may well have been chalices. Another chalice, in the same collection, of the 6th or 7th century, was found with a silver treasure at Lampsacus on the Hellespont. It is of silver, with a cylindrical body and small expanding foot; with it were found a number of silver spoons and dishes, the former inscribed with the names of Apostles, Greek hexameters and lines from Virgil’s Eclogues. No doubt the whole was the treasure of a monastery, buried and never reclaimed. So far as evidence exists for the form of the chalice, the vase-shape with two handles seems to have been mainly succeeded by a goblet with straight sides and without handles; these latter in great part disappeared. Then came the rounded cup-shaped bowl as seen in the well-known Kremsmünster chalice. An interesting silver vessel, probably a chalice, found at Trewhiddle in Cornwall, is in the British Museum. It is of plain semi-oviform shape, and dates from the 9th century. The 13th century chalice was usually a broad somewhat shallow cup, on a conical base, and squat in its general lines as compared with those of later date. These gradually became taller, and with a bowl smaller in proportion, following the tendency of the civil vessels towards more elegant lines. Both civil and religious vessels eventually carried this tendency to an extreme point, so that in the 17th century the continental chalices and standing cups had lost all sense of true artistic proportions; the bowl of the chalice had greatly shrunk in size while the foot had become huge and highly elaborate, both in general form and in ornamental details. In Britain chalices ceased to be used in the English church in the reign of Edward VI., and were replaced by communion cups. These were much plainer in make, recalling in their outlines the goblet form of about a thousand years earlier, the sides of the bowl being concave, or nearly straight, as opposed to the convexity of the chalice, while the paten was reversed over the mouth and so arranged as to form a closely fitting cover. With the beginning of the 17th century English communion cups again followed the civil fashion in adapting the outline of the Venetian drinking glass, a shape which has survived to our own days.

The materials of which chalices were made in the early centuries seem to have been as various as those of ordinary vessels. Glass was undoubtedly a favourite substance, perhaps from its lending itself readily to scrupulous cleanliness; but wood, horn, ivory and similar materials were undoubtedly in use, and were from time to time condemned as improper by the Fathers of the Church. Pewter was in common use, and it was not an unusual practice in the 12th and 13th centuries to place sacramental vessels, of this or more precious metal, in the grave of an ecclesiastic. Bronze was also used, and the Kremsmünster chalice is of that metal, which was a favourite one in the Celtic church. But gold or silver chalices were no doubt always preferred when they could be obtained.

It may be mentioned here that it was a common practice in the 16th century and later in England for laymen to make gifts to the church of vessels of an entirely domestic character for use in the service. Many of these from their associations, and in the character of the designs upon them, were entirely unsuited for such purposes, and in our own time, when a healthy desire has sprung up for the proper investigation of such matters, many such unsuitable vessels have been withdrawn from use. Domestic plate, however, being much more highly appreciated by collectors, there has been a regrettable tendency on the part of the holders of such pieces to sell them to the highest bidders; the tendency is to be deplored, for while they remain the property of the church, they are a national asset; if sold by auction, there is a great probability of their going abroad.

It would seem fairly certain that the ordinary drinking vessel of medieval times was, like the trenchers of wood, turned on the lathe. Of these the commoner varieties have entirely disappeared, having become useless from distortion Medieval vessels for common uses. or other damage. Such as have come down to our own time owe their preservation to the added refinement of a silver mount. Vessels of this kind are known as mazer bowls, a word of uncertain origin, but undoubtedly, in the medieval sense, indicating wood of some more Mazers. or less valuable kind, and not improbably, in the 16th century, maple or a wood of that appearance. Spenser in the “Shepherd’s Kalendar” speaks of “a mazer ywrought of the maple warre.” Although such vessels are mentioned in the inventories and other contemporary records as far back as the 12th century, no example is known to exist of an earlier date than the 14th century, of which date there are two in the possession of Harbledown hospital. This type of drinking vessel was in common use in well-to-do households until the 16th century, when a change of fashion and the greater luxury and refinement dictated the adoption of more elegant and complex forms. The ordinary mazer was a shallow bowl (see [Plate], Plate II.) about 6 in. in diameter, with a broad expanding rim of silver gilt often engraved with a motto in black letter or Lombardic capitals, at times referring to the function of the cup, such as:—

“In the name of the Trinity Fille the Kup and drinke to me.”

or,

“Potum et nos benedicat Agios.”

Within the bowl, in the centre is often found a circular medallion called a “print” with some device upon it, engraved and filled with enamel. The reason of this addition may conceivably be found in the fact that such bowls were sometimes made from the lower half of a gourd or calabash, in the centre of which would be a rough projection whence the fibres of the fruit had diverged. A rarer form of mazer has the characters just mentioned and in addition is mounted upon a high foot, bringing it nearer to the category of standing cups or “hanaps.” The famous Scrope mazer belonging to York Minster (early 15th century) stands upon three small feet. Of the hanap type examples are in the possession of Pembroke College, Cambridge (the Foundress’ Cup), and All Souls’ College, Oxford, the former an exceedingly fine specimen, of the third quarter of the 15th century. The form dictated originally by the simple wooden cup was at times carried out entirely in silver, or even in stone, mazer-like cups being found either entirely in metal or with the main portion made of serpentine or some other ornamental stone. An example of the former from the Hamilton Palace collection, as well as several ordinary mazers, are to be seen in the British Museum. The types above described are of English origin, with the exception of that made entirely of silver, which is thought to be French. Most of the continental forms differed from the English, and were more elaborately finished. One of the finest is that which belonged to Louis de Male, last count of Flanders. It is an exceedingly thin, shallow bowl of fine-grained wood, with a cover of the same make. The latter is surmounted by a silver figure of a falcon holding a shield in its mouth with the arms of the count. The foot is of silver with lozenge-shaped panels inserted, bearing in enamel the arms of the count. A German form of the 16th century consisted of a depressed sphere of wood for the bowl, with a silver rim, and a cover formed of a similarly shaped sphere, called in France a “creusequin.” Such mazers were furnished in addition with a short metal handle turned up at the end, a feature unknown in the English types. All of these again are to be seen in the British Museum series.

Although the use of wooden vessels more or less elaborately mounted was continued well into the 16th century as a fashion, many other materials of far greater value were in use among the wealthy long before that time. Crystal, Hanaps. agate and other hard stones, ivory, Chinese porcelain, as well as more ordinary wares, were all in use, as well as the precious metals. The inventories of the 14th and 15th centuries are full of entries showing that such precious cups were fairly common. Of gold cups of any antiquity naturally but few remain; the intrinsic value of the metal probably is a sufficient explanation. One of the most important in existence is however preserved in the British Museum, viz. the royal gold cup of the kings of England and France. It is of nearly pure gold with a broad bowl and a high foot, the cover pyramidal. The whole is ornamented with translucent enamels of the most perfect quality, and with a little damage in one part, absolutely well preserved. The subjects represented on it are scenes from the life of St Agnes, in two rows, one on the cover and one outside the bowl; on the foot are the symbols of the four Evangelists, and around the base a coronal of leaves alternating with pearls; the cover originally had a similar adjunct, but it has unfortunately been cut away. This is the only piece of royal plate of the treasures of the kings of England and France that now remains, and its history has been traced from the time it was made, about the year 1380, to the present time. It was made by one of the goldsmiths of the luxurious Duc de Berri, the brother of Charles V. of France, no doubt to offer as a gift to the king, whose birthday was St Agnes’ day. It was, however, never presented, probably owing to the death of Charles V. in 1380. The duc de Berri was not on friendly terms with his nephew Charles VI., but on their being reconciled he presented the young king with this cup. The troubles of his reign led to the invasion of France by Henry V. of England, and the ultimate appointment of his brother, John, duke of Bedford, as regent. The necessities of the half-insane Charles doubtless caused this cup and other valuables to pass into the possession of the regent in exchange for ready money, for it appears in the duke of Bedford’s will, under which it passed into the treasury of Henry VI. There it remained and appears in all subsequent royal inventories up to the time of James I. This monarch, whose motto was “Beati pacifici,” received with joy the embassy sent from Spain in the year 1610 to conclude the first treaty of peace with England since the Armada, and showered upon the envoy, Don Juan de Velasco, constable of Castile, the most lavish and extravagant gifts. The constable, in fact, was so impressed by the warmth of his reception that he printed an account of his embassy, and from this work the main story of the cup has eventually been traced. On his return to Spain the constable, a piously disposed man, presented this cup, with many other valuable gifts, to the convent of Santa Clara Medina de Pomar at Burgos, of which his sister was Superior. Although it was a domestic vessel, a “hanap” in fact, the constable elected that it should be consecrated and made use of as a chalice at great festivals. And so it continued to be used from the early years of the 17th century until about the year 1882, when the convent having fallen upon evil times, it was decided to sell this precious relic. A priest from the Argentine being at the time in Burgos, it was confided to him to sell in Paris, and he deposited the sum of £100 by way of security. This was all that the unfortunate nuns at Burgos ever received in return for their chalice, for they never saw the priest again. He took the cup to Paris, arriving in the month of September, when the majority of the well-to-do are away from town. After many failures to dispose of it, he ultimately succeeded in selling it to Baron Jerome Pichon for the sum of about £400, practically its weight in gold. The baron, after vainly trying to resell it at various sums from £20,000 downwards, eventually parted with it to Messrs Wertheimer of Bond Street for £8000, and that firm very liberally ceded it to Sir Wollaston Franks for the same sum, and it was finally secured by a subscription for the British Museum.