Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/415

 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL TXSTITUTE. 299 well suited for a drinking-cup. One of them is of silver richly gilt, without any mark of fabrication ; the date may be about 1500; on the plain cylin- drical projection which surmounts the globular cover are engraved the arms of the Rodney family (three eagles displayed), in whose possession it has long been preserved. The dimensions are, — height of cup and cover, 6i inches ; diameter of the largest part, 42 inches. This singular little vessel is now the property of Lady Rodney. The second, recently pur- chased by Mr. Morgan, is of smaller dimensions, and formed of some foreign wood, mounted with silver gilt : it stands on three silver pome- granates ; it closely resembles the other in form and in the fashion of the little handle, recurved upwards, as shown in the annexed representation. Height, cover included, SJ inches. On removing the globular cover, a strongly aromatic odour is perceived, which has led to the supposition that these singular vessels may have been intended to contain perfumes. The elegant crested ornament at the top seems to correspond with the flat cylindrical termination of the vessel first described, and there can be no doubt that both were adapted for the same purpose. It deserves notice that pieces of plate, precisely similar in form, appear repeatedly in the curious woodcuts in the edition of Virgil, printed " in ajdibus Crespini," at Lyons, 1529. Such a covered vessel, with one ear, is presented by Dido to yEneas, at the banquet, (^En.. lib. ii., p. 7G) ; it is the prize won by Acestes at the shooting at the popinjay (lib. v., p. 258), described as '^cratero, impressum signis," once the precious gift of a Thracian king. See also the woodcuts at pp. 316, 425. It appears, likewise, as one of tlie *' pocula,'^ in the illustration of the third Eclogue. The Romans used the drinking vessels with one handle, called capis or capula, in potations around the cillibantum ; it is possible that these peculiar cups with a single ear may have been appropriate to some practice of pledging, of taking the assay, or other convivial usage, in medieval times. Mr. Morgan exhibited also a deep dish of latten with ornaments hammered up, the central subject being Adam and Eve. It is remarkable as bearing upon a scroll a date in Arabic numerals, 1487. The Rev, Charles Sydenham communicated the following remarks on Ilill-country Churches, in the North of Devon. — " There are, perhaps, few ])art3 of England the Ecclesiastical architecture of which is so little known, as the portions of Somersetshire and Devon, bordering on the once royal forest of Exmoor. Thinly populated, and difficult of access to any but the determined pedestrian, this picturesque district has been rarely, if ever, visited by the antiquarian or the ecclesiologist ; and yet there is much in the structure of the churches themselves, independently of their wild and romantic situations, to interest all who love to dwell on the taste and feeling of a by-gone age. Although much has been done, in all other parts of this country, to illustrate the remains of Ecclesiastical Architecture, the churches bordering on Exmoor appear as yet to have received little or no notice. " The character of most of the churches is Decorated ; but many exceptions to this style occur, in detail ; some of these may carry us back to an age even prior to the Conquest. A remarkable similarity is to be observed in the material of which these churches are built ; a rough kind of granite, found in abundance all over the forest of Exmoor, which, when not obscured by the plaster of modern days, harmonises exceedingly well with the sur- rounding scenery.