A tall polished silver goblet with a very wide base and a bulbous decoration at the center of the stem.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The base is wider than the cup, and is made of concentric petal shapes, the stem is polygonal and fluted at the bottom where it meets the base. There is a round decoration at the center of the stem which is wide and round with regular geometric floral designs and cutouts. The cup connects to the stem with wavy designs that look like simple vines holding the step and cup together. There is a band of decorative lettering along the top of the cup and bottom of the stem, where they are distorted by the fluting shape.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1999.97
People
John James Keith, British, English (1824 - 1870)
Designed by William Butterfield, British (1814 - 1900)
Title
Chalice
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Chalice (in the Gothic revival style)
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
1849-1850
Places
Creation Place: Europe, United Kingdom, England, London
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/193280

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2340, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Silver Cabinet: Art and Ritual, 1600–1850
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver
Dimensions
23.5 x 15.5 x 15.5 cm (9 1/4 x 6 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.)
695 g
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: Hallmarked IK, London, 1849
  • inscription: bottom, engraved: An oblation to the Church / of St. John the Evangelist / Stratford Christmas Day / MDCCCXLIX
  • inscription: around bowl, engraved: In gothic script: "Bibebant de spiritali consquente eos petra petra autem erat christus"
  • hallmark: under base, stamped: Queen Victoria's head, facing left, in an oval shield; leopard's head (London); gothic "O" within a shield (1849); lion passant (assay mark)
  • maker's mark: on base, stamped: I [pellet] K [John James Keith; Clume, no. 8238, 8239, or 8240]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Stratford, Essex, disposed of sometime prior to 1925. [David Allen Antiquaire, Paris] sold; to Harvard Art Museums, 1999.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Paul Clarke Stauffer Fund
Accession Year
1999
Object Number
1999.97
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
On stepped lobed base rising to a hexagonal knop stem and hemispherical bowl engraved with a Latin inscription above wavy rays, the underside engraved: An oblation to the Church of St John the Evangelist Stratford Christmas Day Mdcccxlix

Publication History

  • James Cuno, ed., A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions by the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, Mass., Spring 2000), p. 59, repr.
  • Christopher Hartop, British and Irish Silver in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge, Mass. and New Haven, 2007), pp. 184-185, cat. no. 180, repr. p. 184, details repr. pp. 184-185.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2340 Cabinet Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/24/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/25/2019 - 06/02/2025

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu