Post-Reformation communion cup is quiet survivor of turbulent times, say experts

© 2014 The Trustees of the British Museum

© Salisbury Museum

Secular to Sacred: The Story of the Lacock Cup is at the Salisbury Museum from January 31 – May 4 2015, then Palace Green Library, Durham, June 1 – August 31; Norfolk Museum and Archaeology Service, October 2015 – January 2016 (TBC); Nottingham Castle Museum, Nottingham, February – April 2016 (TBC).

© Salisbury Museum

© Salisbury Museum

© Salisbury Museum

© Peter Marsh

© Peter Marsh

Sometime during the 15th century, a mystery craftsman fashioned nearly 1kg of silver bullion into a feasting cup for a high-ranking nobleman, gilded at the base and top lid with an astonishingly smooth hammered surface at the peak of its 35 centimetres.Known as the Lacock Cup, curators say this “breathtakingly rare” solid silver vessel possesses a “timeless simplicity”. Also used as a holy chalice, its unlikely survival provides all the more reason for history fans to visit the work when it embarks on a five-venue tour from the British Museum, starting at the Salisbury Museum at the end of this month.“Late Middle Age drinking cups are so rare because most were melted down as fashions changed,” says Adrian Green, the Director of the museum, observing the “heart-stopping beauty” of an internationally-significant exhibit.“This one was gifted to the Church of St Cyriac in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, immediately after the reformation and served as a sacred communion cup there for over 400 years.“Thus it quietly survived the turbulent reformation, when most church silver was confiscated, and avoided the notice of reformers.”The British Museum and the Wiltshire Museum bought the cup in 2013, backed by groups including the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund. Its display in Salisbury, which was known for its silver production during the Middle Ages, will be a fitting one, accompanied by a series of comparison pieces loaned to the museum.“This uniquely English object is closely tied to Wiltshire, and to start the cup’s Spotlight Tour in its home county is an exciting opportunity,” says Naomi Speakman, of the British Museum.“Visitors will be able to compare the vessel to medieval and post-medieval objects, allowing wider stories about the Lacock Cup to be discovered.”