By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A. 



363 



the purchase of the other. That some of the so-called " massing 

 chalices 33 escaped was probably owing to the bishop in some localities 

 holding less strong reforming views, and dealing more gently with 

 the " Injunctions." The beautiful early chalice and paten belonging 

 to the outlying parish of Nettlecombe, Somerset, were probably 

 preserved to our own time by the ingenious manoeuvres of the 

 churchwardens in 1549, who legally transferred them temporally to 

 " Master John Trevylyan Esqueyer 33 of the same parish, until the 

 evil days had passed. 



From about the year 1562 a great change took place in the form 

 and style of ornament of the chalice ; for the next twenty years 

 their uniformity of shape and pattern was so universal that they 

 could hardly have been the result of the taste or caprice of silver- 

 smiths or churchwardens . They are distributed pretty well all over 

 England, several examples being found in the neighbourhood of 

 Salisbury. It has not been ascertained by what authority this 

 change was made. One reason, probably, was a desire to remove 

 all traces of the former ceremonies of the mass. The chalice still 

 consists of its cup, the stem with a small knop, and the foot. The 

 stem, though altered in form and character, still swells into a small 

 knop, or the rudiments of one, the foot being invariably round instead 

 of indented. The form of the cup, however, is altogether changed, 

 and instead of being a shallow wide bowl, it is elongated into the 

 form of a truncated cone, slightly bell-shaped. The form of the 

 paten, too, is much changed, the sunk part of the plate is con- 

 siderably deepened, the brim narrowed, with a fixed rim or edge, by 

 which it is made, when inverted, to fit on the cup as a cover, while 

 a foot is added to it, which serves also as a handle to the cover. A 

 paten of the older shape is sometimes found at this period, and it 

 may be doubted whether the cover was in all cases used as a paten 

 for the general communicants, as the quantity of sacramental bread 

 it would contain must necessarily be very small ; unless, indeed, the 

 bread at that time took the form of the wafer, which is probable. 

 A good typical example of the Elizabethan chalice with its paten-cover 

 is found at Dinton, the engraving of which will make any description 

 more easily understood. 



