It is likely that this cup was commissioned by William Beckford, the eccentric millionaire and connoisseur, for his house in Bath. During his later years, Beckford purchased a number of smaller silver articles incorporating hardstones, often with mounts in the Gothic taste. Rawlings & Summers, smallworkers, appear to have supplied most of these works, although this would appear to be the first noted to incorporate blue-john. Other examples from their workshop include a cup of 1839 with a red hardstone bowl, sold by Sotheby's, London, May 20, 1982, lot 11, and a fruit bowl with silver-gilt stem, the bowl formed of hardstone, dated 1840, sold in the same Rooms, February 25, 1971, lot 79.

Blue-john, although native to England, was already scarce by 1840, and like an exotic hardstone, would have been worthy of a silver-gilt mount to exhibit its precious qualities. The discovery of the first large vein of blue-john, or "Derbyshire spar," as it was also known in the 18th century, occurred in 1743 in Castleton, near Sheffield. Matthew Boulton promoted its popularity by incorporating urns and plinths of blue-john into mantel garnitures, candelabra, and other works of ormolu. Boulton first referred to blue-john in 1768, and by the end of the 18th century the largest veins had been exhausted. It is possible, then, that this goblet was made to incorporate an 18th century tea-bowl as a specimen piece of blue-john.