344 Notes on the Church Plate of North Wiits. 
belt, while the Kington St. Michael cup has foliated engraving close 
under the rim, in addition to the ordinary belt. 
Two other cups of abnormal fashion must be mentioned; first that 
belonging to Foxley, marked 1577, but not given to the Church till 
a century later. This is a goblet-shaped vessel 5in. high, richly 
ornamented, and quite unlike the chalice of the period—probably a 
secular cup devoted afterwards to Church use. Secondly, a little 
cup belonging to Leigh—a chapelry of Ashton Keynes—of the same 
height as the last, with tapering bowl and baluster stem, entirely 
plain except for three bands of gilding, one on the edge of the bowl 
and two on the stem. It bears the date letter of 1596, and is 
somewhat of the Tazza type, though its bowl is deep instead of 
shallow—indeed it is much the shape of a modern wine glass. 
There are three curious little vessels at Lacock, Biddestone, and 
Alderton, the use of which seems doubtful. The Lacock specimen isa 
little bowl about 6in. in diameter, embossed in its interior with cockle 
shells and a bunch of grapes in the centre. It is marked 1583. 
That at Biddestone also has a bunch of grapes embossed on it and 
has two plain wire handles. It is marked 1672. The Alderton 
piece is larger and shallower, covered with an ornamentation of rows 
and circles of embossed dots. It has two flat ears or handles and is 
marked 1639. These little vessels have been called wine-tasters— 
probably they have been given to serve as patens. 
During the first quarter of the seventeenth century the Elizabethan 
type was slightly modified. The bowl grew deeper in proportion 
to the stem and base, and the whole piece less broad in proportion 
to its height. The mouldings of the base, too, were multiplied and 
made more prominent. The engraved strap-work band disappears, 
the bowl generally being plain, as in the Ditcheridge example (1627) 
(No. 5 in the accompanying plate), though occasionally there are 
belts of olive leaf engraving, as in the parcel-gilt Cricklade St. 
Sampson’s cup of 1615 (No. 4). 
An exceptionally beautiful cup of this potted is the silver-gilt one 
of Fittleton (1610), which has an inscription in place of the belts 
on the bowl, and olive leaf ornament round the knot. 
Of this period, too, (1619) is a very beautiful cup at Froxfield, 
