Standing Cup and Cover (1593): Art, History and Details

Standing Cup and Cover (1593) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Produced during the last years of the Tudor dynasty (1485–1603), this vessel exemplifies the symmetrical patterns, horizontal designs, and clear division of space typical of English silverwork at the time. The functional shape and ornamental designs characteristic of standing cups made them ideal for ceremonial occasions.

Object facts

• Title: Standing Cup and Cover
• Date: 1593
• Culture: England, London
• Type: Silver
• Technique: silver, partially gilt
• Dimensions: Overall: 19.3 x 7.4 cm (7 5/8 x 2 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1968.241

A detail from the museum

Often made for members of guilds and trade associations in London, standing cups were frequently used during toasts.

Collection credit

Given in memory of Howard Parmelee Eells, 1855-1919, Member of the Advisory Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1914-1919, by his daughter, Maud

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1968.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 1 (January 1969)
• Fliegel, Stephen N. “An Elizabethan Silver Cup with Cover.” Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 8 (2003): 34–43.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.