| Description
The cup stands on a waisted, domed foot. The foot is chased around
the border with a band of hyphen ornament and within with scrolls,
foliage, and strapwork on tooled matted ground. The plain section
above is bordered by a band of arch forms. The domed centre of the
foot is chased with fruit,
foliage, and strapwork on tooled matted ground, with a ring of gadroons
and ogival arch forms above.
The baluster stem, which rests on a cylindrical
plinth chased with guilloche
ornament, is decorated with bearded masks and scrolls and has six
applied brackets in two registers, the upper register in the form
of herms.
The polished turban shell is encased by
four vertical straps, which are pierced and engraved with plaiting.
The shell is surmounted by an eagle's head and wings chased with
plumage, and the shoulder of the shell is overlaid with a crescent-shaped
silver-gilt panel chased with reptiles and a snail in a landscape.
The lip is engraved with strapwork and foliage on hatched ground,
and the panel and lip are bordered by a pierced and engraved band
of arches. The raised cover is chased with a band of bosses within
a strapwork surround and engraved with imbricated
ornament. In the centre is a wattle fence containing a later composition
of fruit (removed in this illustration).
Construction
The foot and cover are raised.
The stem is hollow cast in three equal sections and fits over a
tubular shaft that is soldered to the base. The shell is held in
position by the vertical straps, which meet at the base of the shell
and are joined to each other by a four-part hinge joint, at the
centre of which is a screw that attaches the cup to the stem and
base. The straps and the eagle components are in turn secured to
the lip by other hinge joints. The cover has a reeded external locating
flange. The basket is secured by four bent clips soldered to the
cover. The pieces of fruit, added later, are apparently formed from
individually cast parts that are soldered together and attached
to the cover by a screw; the underside of the screw is chased with
a sun in splendour.
Commentary
Seashells were used by goldsmiths during the sixteenth century to
create some of the most exotic vessels of the mannerist style. Turban
and nautilus shells were particularly favoured because of their
form and their beauty when polished, and the asymmetrical shape
of the turban shell added to its appeal at a time when goldsmiths
were striving to escape from Renaissance rules of symmetry and balance.
The turban shell is indigenous to the Indo-Pacific
area. Although both turban and nautilus shells had been known in
Europe for several centuries, the establishment of more formal trade
links with the Far East during the sixteenth century is clearly
reflected in their greater availability at that time.
Note: the cup would have been even more
dramatic had its original finial been preserved. This was presumably
in the form of a penned lamb, which the eagle is about to attack.
The repairer who replaced the missing finial, possibly in the middle
of the seventeenth century, mistook the fence on the cover for a
basket and consequently provided an inappropriate decorative arrangement
of fruit.
Glossaries
chase - to decorate a
metal surface using a hammer and sharp tool
gadroons - a series of convex curves often applied
as a border decoration
ogival - a pointed arch
guilloche - an ornamental border formed of two
or more curved bands that interlace to repeat a circular design
herms - a carved head or bust, usually of Hermes
imbricated - to be arranged with a regular overlapping
edge
raised - formed from a single sheet of metal by
repeated hammering over an anvil
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the
Gilbert silver