Lot Essay
The original Bacon Cup was one of three made for Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, in 1573, from the Great Seal of Mary I and Philip of Spain, one for each of his houses. One was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1915 and one was sold by the Townsend family at Christies in 1904 and it was from this example that Lambert made his copy