APPARENTLY UNMARKED, 19TH CENTURY WITH 15TH CENTURY ELEMENTS

This form of this beaker with a plain body and cover applied with cast bands of Gothic foliage first appears in Germany in the mid 15th century. A similar example with a more flattened cover made in Nuremberg around 1460/1470, can be found in the collection of the V&A (753:1, 2-189). Lübeck produced similar cups with high-domed covers as found on this lot. The Gothic foliage borders are reminiscent of medieval manuscript borders and stone carving of the period. It is probable that the borders, feet and finial date from the 15th century, but the body and cover were either replaced or heavily restored when the later trefoil shaped plinth was created. It is known that the cup was in the collection of William, 4th Duke of Portland (1768–1854), as Jones, op. cit., p.12 mentions that it was listed in the 1854 inventory of the Duke’s London residence, Harcourt House, made on his death.