A SMALL COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE SILVER
AND OBJECTS OF VERTU
silver stirrup cup - USA
The stirrup cup was created for holding a drink to be taken while mounted on horseback, usually prior to a hunt moving off. As it is of small capacity it can be emptied quickly and there is no need to set it down during use, which would an impossibility anyway, while in the saddle. The most popular surviving late
eighteenth/early nineteenth century specimens are those in the shape of a fox’s head. Modelled in detail, the fur is represented realistically and they are of a size to be held easily in the hand. Contemporary counterparts in porcelain were made at the Derby factory and elsewhere.This silver stirrup cup is of modern manufacture. It is unmarked and has the monogram GG roughly engraved in the interior of the cup.
The fox's head up-side down is the base of the cup, standing on the ears and the nose of the wild animal.
The cup is 3 1/2 in. high (cm. 8,5) and was bought from an US dealer through the Internet.
The Stirrup-Cup
Death, thou'rt a cordial old and rare:Look how compounded, with what care!
Time got his wrinkles reaping thee
Sweet herbs from all antiquity.
David to thy distillage went,
Keats, and Gotama excellent,
Omar Khayyam, and Chaucer bright,
And Shakespeare for a king-delight.
Then, Time, let not a drop be spilt:
Hand me the cup whene'er thou wilt;
'Tis thy rich stirrup-cup to me;
I'll drink it down right smilingly.
Tampa, Florida, 1877.
(from Poems of Sidney Lanier, Edited by His Wife 1842-1881)
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This is a page of 'The What is? Silver Dictionary' of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, Sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington), history, oddities ...
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This is a page of 'The What is? Silver Dictionary' of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, Sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington), history, oddities ...