Two-Handled Cup and Cover (1686): Art, History and Details

Two-Handled Cup and Cover (1686) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Produced a year after the coronation of James II (1633–1701), this silver cup celebrates the monarchy and reflects the political and social alliances that underpinned the aristocracy during the 1600s. During their coronation, James II and his second wife Mary of Modena (1658–1718) were carried through the city of London under a silk canopy adorned with motifs inspired by European perceptions of Chinese art, known as chinoiserie. Following the procession, the thirty-two lords involved in the ceremony were each offered a portion of the cloth from the canopy as well as sixteen troy ounces of silver from the posts. At least two of them commissioned cups adorned with chinoiserie to be made from the silver. While it is unclear if this cup once belonged to one of the thirty-two peers, it was almost certainly created in response to the same motifs and social developments.

Object facts

• Title: Two-Handled Cup and Cover
• Date: 1686
• Culture: England, London
• Type: Silver
• Technique: silver gilt
• Dimensions: Overall: 23.9 x 32.4 cm (9 7/16 x 12 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1935.145

A detail from the museum

The two female figures lift a crown on the front of this cup that closely resembles Saint Edward’s Crown, the heraldic emblem of the United Kingdom.

Collection credit

Inspired by the great benefits accomplished for humanity by Dr. Geroge W. Crile, I give this James II cup to the Cleveland Museum of Art in his honor, gift of Grace Studebaker Fish

Further reading listed by the museum

• Foote, Helen. "Two-Handled Silver-Filt Cup a Gift of Frace Studebaker Fish." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 22, no. 9 (November 1935): 139-141.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

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.