DRINKING BOWL

Goblets or bowls such as the present lot were a common object placed on the table or sideboard during a noble feast in all the European courts of the Middle Ages. Used for drinking, its centre was decorated with depressions to give depth to the bowl and highlight the colour of the drink. Because so many were melted down over the centuries, the present bowl is a rare surviving example. Comparable drinking cups have been found in the Coëffort treasury in Le Mans and the fourteenth century Gaillon-Rouen treasure. The present bowl is punched with the hallmark of Avignon, which was the papal residence from 1309-1376, and an important city well into the fifteenth century.