Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/219

Rh breadth of the handle, 1 inch. The date appears to be the latter part of the fifteenth century, and it has been regarded as belonging to the peculiar class of ancient vessels, of which two examples were brought before the Institute by Mr. Morgan; see vol. viii., p. 299, where one of them, formed of wood, is represented.

The Hon., jun., stated, in regard to these curious cups, that in the Pitti Palace at Florence, in a glazed case placed in a passage leading from one of the back rooms in the picture gallery, there are six or eight vessels of this sort, all made of a light-coloured wood, very richly mounted in gold; they are double, that is, as if a second cup was used in each case as a cover. Mr. Curzon supposes that they were the common drinking cups of Austria, the north of Italy, and the south of France, and that they took the place of our mazers in those countries. In a MS. of the "Livre de Genese," date about 1380-1400, in Mr. Curzon's collection at Parham Park, there are three representations of cups of this description, the bowls being melon-shaped, the covers are smaller cups of similar fashion but of smaller size, and the lower portion only has a handle on one side. He observed that about the same period when these double cups were in vogue, it was the fashion to use double basons for food, one inverted upon the other. It is probable that the curious piece of ancient plate exhibited by the Duke of Hamilton, had originally a globular cover, like those described by Mr. Curzon; this peculiar form of cup is well shown in the woodcuts in an edition of Virgil, printed at Lyons, 1529, from which the upper woodcut has been copied, occurring in the third Eclogue. This form may be noticed likewise amongst the charges of ancient German heraldry. The second example here given is taken from the works of Spener, where it occurs amongst Calices sive scyphi, as the bearing of the Carinthian family of Leininger; and three such vessels are given with the family name of Brock. (Spener, Pars Generalis, plates, No. 19).

By Mr. .—A small tripod pedestal of bronze, elaborately worked, and representing animals grotesquely contorted, thirteenth century. Also a gold ring of beautiful workmanship, bearing on the facets figures of St. Christopher and St. Margaret (?) and the posy—

By Mr. .—A representation of a small bronze relique from a tunmlus near Mount Harry, Lewes: probably portion of a buckle, and enamelled with saltires, gules.

By Sir John, Bart.—An iron prick-spur, found in the moat of a castle near Tharaud in Saxony: it is probably of the twelfth century, and was intended apparently to be attached by means of a single strap; the shanks are much curved, the point pyramidal, measuring 1 inch in length.—An iron arrow-head, found in the walls of the Château les Cles, on the confines of France and the Canton de Vaud : its length is 3 inches. The point is forged pyramidally, somewhat like the English piles of arrows in the Goodrich Court armory, Skelton, vol. i. pl. 34, but the socket, in all instances slit open at the side, is much shorter in proportion to the point. Arrow-heads, attributed to the time of Edward I., and precisely similar to that now produced, were found by Mr. Wynne in his excavations at Castell y Bere.

By Mr. .—A massive gold ring set with a sapphire, and