BRITISH AND MEDIEVAL ANTIQUITIES. 63 



not yet been discovered, but it probably was through John, 

 Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, who frequently supplied 

 the necessities of Charles VI., and received from him plate 

 in return. At that time it had an ornamental knot, or 

 " f ruitelet," of precious stones and pearls, which seems to 

 have been lost or removed by Henry VIII. , and replaced by 

 a " crown imperial," the newly-invented arched crown of the 

 Kings of England, and it is so described in the Inventories 

 of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth. In 1610 the Constable 

 of Castile, Don Juan de Velasco, came to England to conclude 

 the peace between the two countries, and James I. was very 

 lavish in his gifts to the envoy, his presents including no less 

 than three gold cups, of which this was one. 



On his return to Spain, the Constable, who seems to have 

 had a mistaken notion that the cup was a religious vessel, 

 gave it to a convent, and to record his gift, placed a gold 

 band round the stem, enamelled with the following inscrip- 

 tion : — OazcB Sacrce ex Anglia reliquias, pads inter reges 

 factce monumentum, cratera auro solidum, Joan Velasq. 

 Comestah. inde r[egis] h[ritannici] g[ratia] rediens, Christo 

 paci/lcatori dd. 



An agent of the Abbess of the Convent sold it in 1883 to 

 Baron Pichon of Paris, and from him it was purchased by 

 Messrs. Wertheimer of London. 



The history of the cup can therefore be traced for 500 

 years, and it is, as far as is known, the only relic of the 

 domestic plate of the earlier English, or even French, Kings. 



As a specimen of enamelling it is very remarkable, both 

 from the beauty of the design and the extraordinary accuracy 

 of the execution. It is enamelled by the process known as 

 "translucent on relief," consisting of variously coloured 

 enamels floated over a very shallow sunk relief, of which the 

 sinkings form the main lines. 



Messrs. Wertheimer, wishing the cup to remain in this 

 country and to become national property, generously agreed 

 to cede it at cost price, viz., 8,000L, and the late Mr. S. 

 Wertheimer, in addition, offered to become one of the sub- 

 scribers. 



A subscription was therefore started, and the cup secured 

 for the nation, the following being a list of the subscribers : — 



PRINCIPAL SUBSCRIBERS OF £500. 



The Goldsmiths' Company. 

 The Duke of Northumber- 

 land, K.G. 

 The Earl of Crawford, K.T. 

 The Rt. Hon. Lord Savile, 



G.C.B. 



0.108. LESSER 



The Lord Iveagh. 

 C. Drury Fortnum D.c.L. 

 A. W. Franks, c.b. 

 The late S. Wertheimer. 



