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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
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Cup, two-handled and cover
Two-handled cup and cover, silver, baluster-shaped body with slightly spreading base and cylindrical neck, tightly scrolled handles each with eagle- and lioness-head terminals, flat-topped domed cover with horizontal rim and pomegranate knop; cup and cover elaborately embossed and chased with masks, shells and leaves in the auricular manner of Christian van Vianen, details added with small punched dots, a later crest of a pelican in its piety engraved on the neck of the cup.
This cup and cover, made in the 'auricular style', is a very rare example of silver illustrating the influence of Christian van Vianen and his 'Modelles artificiels de divers vaisseaux d'argent' of 1650. The term 'auricular' refers to the fashion for shaping silver vessels in a manner resembling the fleshy curves, recesses and folds of ear lobes.