
Church Plate in Kent
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St Eanswith's Reliquary in Folkestone Church
Dr Henry H. Drake's Hundred of Blackheath, being Part I. of his new edition of Hasted's History of Kent
( 327 )
CHURCH PLATE IN KENT.
BY CANON SCOTT ROBERTSON.
THE enquiry respecting Kentish Church Plate, which
the Kent Archseological Society undertook, was cordially
supported by the Archdeacons of Canterbury, Maidstone.,
and Eochester. They united in requesting all incumbents
in the county to respond to the Society's circular of enquiry.
About two-thirds of the clergy ultimately did so, in the
course of two or three years, after additional circulars and
letters of reminder had been sent to many. In 41 parishes,
whence no response came, the Eev. J. A. Boodle very kindly
examined the Communion Plate, when visiting schools,
in the course of his duties as Diocesan Inspector. Mr. J. F.
Wadmore, Mr. Wilfred Cripps, and I, have personally
obtained the particulars of the Sacred Vessels in other
parishes. There are still some few churches, in the county,
respecting the Plate of which I have no information. I
propose to print, first, a Chronological List of all vessels
respecting which information has been obtained; arranged
according to the year in whioh they were manufactured 5
this will form Part I. Then I propose to defer for several
months the printing of Part II., which will contain the full
Inventory of each Parish, taken in its alphabetical order;
thus enabling additional information to be obtained before
Part II. is sent forth, and any corrections to be made, that
may be found needful, after the Chronological List in Part I.
has been widely circulated.
The results of the enquiry shew that, in Kent, the
Mediaeval Vessels of the Church were thoroughly eliminated
from our parishes during the 16th century. Not one
Chalice remains in any Kentish Church out of the large
number that had been in use prior to 1560. Of Mediseval
328 MEDIEVAL VESSELS.
Patens, only two remain in Kent; one, at Walmer Church,
was, perhaps, not used as a paten originally; the other, a
1 isBS
m
MEDIEVAL PATEN (circa 1485) AT WALMBB CHUECH.
very handsome paten (circa 1525), is at St. Helen's Church,
Clyffe-at-Hoo. There are still in England more than seventy
Mediaeval Patens, as Mr. W. H. St. John Hope and Mr. T. M.
Fallow inform us, in their interesting classification of them.*
In Norfolk alone, thirty-two are found.
We find at Eochester Cathedral two covered gilt Alms
Basons, or Patens, which were made in the latter part of
the reign of Henry VIIL, 1530-3. These vessels are wide
shallow bowls, standing on broad round feet and short stems;
they are only 5 inches high, although their basons are
nearly 9 inohes broad. In fact, they are like very low tazze.
Mr. Hope thinks they were made in imitation of Venetian
glass. Inside their bowls we find engraved, in beautifully
ornate Lombardic capitals, the words often used on patens
of that period, as at Clyffe-at-Hoo, " Benedicamus Patrem
et Filiu/m cum Sancto Spiritu." I would suggest that these
vessels were originally used as covered Pixes, or Ciboria,
to contain the sacred wafers, or host. They are very richly
* Journal of the Derbyshire Archceological Society, vol viii., 151.
MEDIEVAL VESSELS. 32 9
ornamented with repousse work, and with good mouldings.
The only cover which remains is also handsomely wrought.
When it stands on the bowl, which it fits, the total height
of the vessel thus formed is 9 inches; just three-eighths
of an inch more than its breadth. There is a curious difference
in the inscriptions within the bowls of these vessels.
Both of them have the word Sancto before the word Spiritu,
but in one of them the last word is oddly contracted into
Sper. These Alms Basons are very handsome and extremely
interesting; they bear the usual London Hall marks, and
their date is clear.
Far more interesting is a plain silver vessel at St. Mary's
in Sandwich, which in shape closely resembles these
Rochester Alms Basons. It was probably a ciborium made
fe«s an
lllilll
aH|UmU
ST. MAET, SANDWICH.
Cup, 4§ inohes high, made circa 1525. Diameter of bowl 5J inches, of foot 4.
Cover, perhaps of later date, 2£ inches high.
330 CUPS AT SANDWICH (ST. MARY) AND SNAVE.
a few years earlier than they were, but it is inscribed in
capital letters around its broad shallow bowl—THIS IS THE
COMVNION COVP. The letters are of a shape generally used
in the reign of Henry VIIL; but we cannot suppose that
they were engraved before the accession of Edward VI., even
if as early as that. Such inscriptions are not usual before
1565, and Mr. Cripps says that such lettering occurs for ten
or fifteen years later than that date. Of about the same
height as the Rochester vessels, this " covp " is 3 inches
less wide than they are. Its plain conical stem has a cable
moulding where it joins the shallow tazza-like bowl; and
it swells out to a round foot. Mr. Hope tells me that there
is at Wymeswold, in Leicestershire, a cup almost exactly
like this, with the London Hall marks of the year 1521-2.
Our cup has no Hall marks properly so-called, but it bears
local marks (perhaps of Sandwich or Dover) which are unknown
to English goldsmiths. Its first mark is a pomegranate,
suggesting the badge and the period of Queen Katherine
of Aragon; the second mark looks very much like one of
the monsters borne upon the armorial shield of the Cinque
Port of Sandwich, viz., a lion's head and forequarters, joined
to the hulk of a ship; the third mark is a Maltese cross.
Originally a cibormm or covered pix, afterwards used as
a Communion Cup, it may have been one of the earliest so
called and so inscribed. The shallowness of its bowl renders
it very unfit for use as a Cup; and it is never so used now.
Its cover does not fit it truly, and is not of the shape commonly
used for Elizabethan paten-covers.
Snave Church possesses a plain and unpretending cup
which excites considerable interest. Its shape is similar to
that of many Elizabethan cups; but upon its foot there are
two marks which are not Elizabethan Hall marks. One is
the maker's monogram, of the letters B.R., within a circular
wreath. The other is a reversed impression of a Roman
capital R. This may indicate manufacture at Romney or
Rochester. The edges of the punch, which impressed it,
simply followed the outline of the letter, and were not
shaped into any regular figure, like a shield or circle. This
irregular outline, for London date-letters, was used until
CHURCH PLATE IN KENT. 331
1560-1. The last date-letter R, with irregular outline, denotes
the year 1554-5. If this cup were made for Snave
Church in that year, it would shew that the shape adopted
in the reign of Edward VT., and so largely used under Elizabeth,
was not changed or discarded by goldsmiths during the
reign of Queen Mary. The cup is remarkable for the thickness
of the silver in its bowl, which is one-sixteenth of an
inch; and for the depth of the bowl, which is 3f inches, while
the total height of the cup is but 6 inches. Its stem is exactly
like those of the Edwardian cups at Hunstanton (1551-2)
and Bridekirk (1550-1). It has in the middle (in place of a
knop) the common triple moulding, one large round between
two smaller ones, seen on the Brabourne cup (1562), and on
so many others. Immediately above and below the stem is
the narrow reeded ornament, as on tbe Brabourne, Monks
Horton, Preston, and other cups. The foot is unadorned.
The bowl has no ornament; but near the mouth, in punctured
letters, we read the name, " WILLIAM GOOTLI. SNAVE " ;
that of the donor we may presume.
This inscription seems more suitable for a domestic cup,
which might have been given to the church at a later period
by the owner, whose name it bore. Mr. Cripps tells me,
however, that, in his very wide experience, he never saw a
secular cup of that fashion; and he pronounces it to be
definitely a Communion Cup.
Our enquiry into the dates of the existing Communion
Vessels shews that a large number of them were made
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth; at least 140 pieces of
Elizabethan plate remain in Kentish Churches. There are
90 Cups, 42 Paten-covers, 4 Plagons, and 4 Alms-dishes.
I t shews also two historical facts of some interest—
(i) that Kent readily and quickly adopted the new Communion
Cups; (ii) that Flagons or stoups were seldom, if
ever, provided for Kentish Parish Churches until the close of
the 16th century, or the beginning of the reign of James I.
Those who carefully examine the Chronological List of
Communion Plate in Kent will note two other facts. One
is that several parishes possess sacred vessels made during
the years of national trouble, that intervened between 1645
3 3 2 EDWARDIAN COMMUNION CUPS.
and 1660. Naturally we should expect a blank record for
those years. The truth is, however, that no less than eleven
parishes possess Communion Plate made during that period;
and some of these twenty vessels are among the most
valuable in the county.
Another fact, to be noted, is that during the eighteenth
century, when the Church is popularly supposed to have
been " dead," the quantity of Communion Plate presented
to the churches of Kent was great. This is a very solid and
practical proof of life and devotion in the Church, not of
coldness and death.
INTRODUCTION OF CUPS INSTEAD OP CHALICES.
Communion Cups had been provided in a few Kentish
Parishes during the reign of Edward VI. ;* but in the
majority of Kentish Churches, the old Chalices were still
used, for three or four years, after the accession of Queen
Elizabeth.
The Inventories of Church Goods in Kent, A.D. 1552, shew
that before the death of the young King the Churchwardens
of Crayford had already purchased a " Cuppe of sylver
waying viij ounces and j quarter, to receive ye comunion."f
This was probably the average weight of such cups ; as we
find that at Farnborough, in November 1552, there was
"one cupp of silver for to receyve the Communyon,
exchaunged for the chalice, waying by estimacion viij
ounces."J Those which the Royal Commissioners, in
November 1552, ordered to be procured for Dartford Church
would have been much heavier than these; but the accession
of Queen Mary may have prevented their purchase at that
period. The Commissioners said "it appereth that the
* It is said that, at the present time, of Communion Cups made during the
reign of Edward VI., not more than six or seven are to be found in England.
Suoh cups now belong to the Churches of Bridekirk, Hunstanton, Totnes, Westminster
(St. Margaret), and St. Lawrence Jewry, London. The Hunstanton
cup, made in 1551-2, is engraved in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries
(May 8,1884), vol. x., p. 108. It is clearly a Communion Cup, made for use as
such. The Bridekirk oup has a more secular look; it was made in 1550-1; an
engraving of it appears on page 73 of the Cumberland and Westmoreland
Archaeological Society's book on Old Chivrch Plate in the Diocese of Carlisle.
f Arch. Cant., VI IL, 136. t Arch. Cant., VIIL, 153.
CHURCH PLATE IN KENT. 333
churchwardens and inhabitaunts there [i.e. at Dartford]
being a very greate parishe be destitute of cuppes to receyve
the Communyon in, and were determyned heretofore to sell
and alter one chalice, with the patent, of sylver and gilte
waying xxyj ounces di.; and one other chalice, with the
patent, waying ix ounces di.; and one pax of silver, parcell
gilte, waying xv ounces; which the saide Comyssyoners have
ordered to be exchannged, by the saide Churchwardens, for
ij cuppes to receyve the Comunyon in, to amount to the
like weyghte and value."* The churchwardens of Woldham,
in Nov. 1552, say, "ij challesyse . . . . hafe we broken and
made a coupe of y* for the receuynge of the communion."f
The wording of the return made by the churchwardens
of Lyminge seems to shew that a new Communion cup, of
inferior metal, had been provided by them, before December
1552. The words used in their Inventory of that date are
"Item, a cuppe of tyn to mynyster with." Contrasting
these words with those in the Lydden Inventory—" Item a
chalice of tynne," we infer that the Lyminge " cuppe " had
been especially provided for the "Administration of the
Holy Communion."
ELIZABETHAN PLATE.
At Biddenden we find the earliest piece of Elizabethan
Communion plate that Kent possesses. It is the Paten,
made in 1560-1, which (although rather larger than the Patencovers
of Early Elizabethan cups usually were) can also be
used as the Paten-cover for a Communion Cup, at Biddenden,
which was made in the following year, 1561-2. That cup,
which is ornamented with engraved belts, disputes, with the
utterly plain cup at Lyminge, the honour of being the oldest
Elizabethan Communion Cup in Kent. That is to say, these
cups at Biddenden and Lyminge are the first (of those now
remaining in Kent) that were designed and made for the
Communion of the laity. The Biddenden Cup was made by
the same London goldsmith who had made the Biddenden
Paten in the previous year; his mark is a crescent sur-
* Arch Cant, VIIL, 141. f Arch. Cant., XIV., 303.
334 ELIZABETHAN CUPS.
mounted by three mullets, one over each horn of the crescent,
and the third on a lower level, between its horns. . Mr.
Fallow found in Yorkshire, at Hgglebarnby Church, a very
small cup, with an engraved belt, which was made by the
same goldsmith in the year 1560-1; that in which he also
made the Biddenden paten. We have another example of
his work in Kent, at Otham Church, where the Communion
cup, made by him in 1562-3, is an inch shorter than his cup
at Biddenden. His mark is also found on a small Communion
Cup of 1567, formerly at Beding, but now in the
British Museum.
Of the Lyminge Cup, made in 1561-2, by the goldsmith*
who made, in 1530-3, the covered gilt alms-basons or patens
now at Rochester Cathedral, and, in 1548-9, a gilt cup now
at St. Lawrence Jewry Church in London, Canon Jenkins has
acutely traced the history, in the following way:—In 1558
David Spycer of Lyminge, made his will, in which he said,
" Item, I bequeathe to the Church of Lymmynge a chalice,
pryce v11 to be proponed and ordained by the feast of St. John
the Baptist next after my decease." He died on the 1st of
January, 1559, and his widow married Henry Brockman of
Shuttlesfield. She neglected to carry out this bequest of her
former husband. In 1561, at Hythe, when a Visitation was
held, by or for Archbishop Parker, complaint of her neglect
was made by the parish of Lyminge. Consequently, as the
recordf oundby Canon Jenkins, and still extant at Canterbury,
states, "Thomasina Brockman appeared and saithe that a
Communion-cuppe shalbe bought with the money." The dateletter
0 upon this cup, still in use at Lyminge Church, shews
that it is the identical cup which was purchased for £5 by
Thomasina Brockman, in compliance with the bequest of her
former husband David Spycer. We are much obliged to
Canon Jenkins, Rector of Lyminge, for so clearly tracing its
identity.
The actual substitution of Communion Cups for the
old Chalices, in the majority of Kentish Churches, took
place in the year 1562; and as a rule these Cups were, at
* Mr. Cripps thinks that this goldsmith was John Mabbe, whose shop in
Chepe bore the sign of the oup.
ELIZABETHAN CUPS. 335
first, without covers. The accounts of the Smarden Churchwardens
give us the details of the substitution there. Mr.
John Sadler, of Maidstone, seems to have been the silversmith
who supplied Smarden with its Communion Cup, in 1562;
and it is highly probable that he supplied cups to other
churches also. The churchwardens sent to him a gilt chalice,
and a paten, weighing together 23 ounces and three-quarters,
formerly used in Smarden Church. He allowed them
(apparently) 5s. 4d. an ounce for the old silver, and he
returned to them 7s. 4d., as well as a Communion Cup,*
which he had obtained from some London maker. Consequently
he must have charged them £5 19s. 4d. for the new
Cup. It seems, however, to have been exceptionally heavy.
The course pursued at Strood is recorded in the ancient
Account-book of the Churchwardens of that parish. This
book had been alienated, but Mr. Humphry Wickham, of
Strood, having heard of its existence, purchased it for
preservation, and he kindly permitted me to examine it.
From its accounts, and the periodical Inventories of Strood
Church goods which it contains, we find that the old silver
chalice and its cover, both gilt, were kept until 1574, when
the churchwardens sold the chalice for £3 17s. 6d.f It
would seem, however, that it had not been used after 1565-6,
when a " comvnyon coppe " was purchased for £1 19s. We
must suppose therefore that the old chalice was used, in
Strood Church, during the first seven years of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth. Strood is in the diocese of Rochester, of
which the Bishop (Maurice Griffyth) died a few days after
Queen Mary. Dr. Allen, elected to be his successor, died
before he could be consecrated. Dr. Edmund Gheast,
* Arch. Cant., IX., 234; see also 233.
f Extracts from the Strood Churchwardens' Book of Accounts (preserved by
the patriotio care and generosity of Humphry Wiokham, Esq.).
p. 27. Inventory of y° goods belongyng to the paryshe Churohe . . . . 15C5 . . . .
one chalyse of syluer and gilt w' a oouer of the same
p. 30. The accounte of Prancys Meryate and Roger Cooksey, beynge churchwardens
from 1565 to 1568.
p. 31 Item payd for the Comvnyon coppe xxxix8.
p. 84. " The Inventory of the goods belonging to the paryshe of Strode, 1568,"
includes the silver-gilt chalise and its cover as before, and also " one
Commvnion oop of syluer."
p. 44. The aocomptes of Wm Barthelmew and Wm Pllodd, 1574. Rec for the
ohallice, iii li. xvii s, vi d.
336 ELIZABETHAN CUPS.
consecrated to the See in 1560, seems to have allowed the
churchwardens to do as they pleased, during the first five
years of his episcopate. In 1565 or 1566 he probably took
steps to enforce the provision of new cups for use at the Holy
Communion. Evidently the authorities at Strood were not
yet convinced that there would be no return to the " Old
Hse." Consequently, when they purchased a Communion
Cup they still retained the old Chalice, instead of exchanging
it for the Cup. Not until a new Bishop, Dr. Edmund Freake,
had been three years in the See of Rochester, did they at
length get rid of the Chalice, by sale. From the price
obtained for it, we should suppose that the old Chalice
weighed at least 14 ounces ; probably more.
At Eltbam the Communion Cup, weighing 10 ounces and
3 grains, was obtained in 1569; in exchange for a gilt Chalice
and Paten, weighing together 13 ounces. For the new Cup,
the goldsmith charged 5s. lOd. per ounce; but for the old
Chalice and Paten, gilt, he allowed only 4s. 8d. an ounce.*
Kent seems to have preceded many other counties in the
adoption and use of the new Elizabethan Communion Cups.
London and Norfolk possess some of the earliest examples,
and Gloucestershire seems to have followed Kent at an interval
of about a dozen years. Yorkshire comes between
them at about 1570 or 1571. In the diocese of Carlisle, on
the other hand, the earliest examples are undated, but were
clearly made circa 1565. They are found in the churches at
Bolton, Cliburn, Hayton, and Ireby. In Derbyshire the
earliest cup is one at Findern, made in 1564-5; one at
Wilne was made in 1566-7, and two made in 1568-9 are at
Norton and Taddington. In Norfolk the researches of the
Rev. C. R. Manning seem to shew that between the years
1564 and 1569 most of the early Communion Cups in that
county were made. Similar instances occur in other counties.
The dates I have mentioned claim our attention, because
they are anterior to the Visitation Articles of 1569,
in one of which Archbishop Parker called special attention
to the matter. He asked, "Whether they do minister in any
prophane cuppes, bowles, dishes, or chalices heretofore used
* Dr. Drake's new edition of Hasted's History of Kent, part i,, p. 20G.
ELIZABETHAN CUPS. 337
at Masse; or els in a decent Communion cnppe, provided
and kept for that purpose P"
A strong reason for snch a question is found in the
presentment made by the churchwardens of Elmsted respecting
their vicar, at a Visitation in the year 1560. "Item, yt
ys presented that yn the tyme of the popyshe masse he to
reverence that order did nse to mynister in a challyce of
sylver; Wheras, now in contempte of thys ministracion he
nsethe a boole too unsemelye to put mylke yn, or some other
homely office." Hpon remonstrance being made, by the
Archdeacon, the Vicar promised amendment, and this entry
was recorded, " He ys contented that the challyce shalbe
converted to the use of the Churche and there to remaine."
The existing cups of Elizabethan date shew that Archbishop
Parker's Visitation Query in 1569 produced a great
effect in "the shires" or counties other than Kent. The
years 1570 and 1571 seem to have been those in which many
counties adopted the Elizabethan Communion Cups; following
a long way behind Kent, Norfolk, and London.
Archdeacon Lea finds that in his Archdeaconry of Worcester
there are 84 cups which were made in those years—they are
generally inscribed 1571. The Rev. J. C. Cox, from his experience
in Derbyshire and elsewhere, formed the opinion
that " few cups are known earlier than 1571." Our Kentish
Communion Cups disprove this supposition. I believe that
more than 50 of the cups now existing in Kent were made
between the years 1561 and 1571. In the Diocese of Carlisle,
Mr. Ferguson notes 5 cups made in 1570-1, and about 15
others in 1571-2. In Wiltshire, there is at Poulton a cup
made in 1569; but Mr. Nightingale speaks of no Elizabethan
cups in Wilts earlier than 1576 (at Dinton, Teffont
Ewyas, and Wishford). In Devonshire, there are few, if
any, cups of earlier date than 1570. One cup made at
Exeter, in 1575, by John Ions, is at Saltwood Church. It
is the only ancient Kentish Communion cup that was certainly
made at a provincial assay town, the Sandwich and
Snave examples being doubtful. How it found its way to
Saltwood, we do not know. Cups made by John Ions are
numerous in Devonshire.
VOL. xvi. z
338 CHURCH PLATE IN KENT.
I t was on the 15th of May 1571, that , in the Northern
Province of York, Archbishop Grindal instituted a Metropolitical
Visitation, in which his Fourth Injunction for the
Clergy contained these words : " And shall minister the Holy
Communion in no chalice, nor any profane cup or glass, but
in a Communion cup of silver, and with a cover of silver,
appointed also for the ministration of the Communion
bread."
Although Kent outstripped many other counties in her
willingness to provide Communion Cups in 1561 and 1562,
I observe that most of these cups lacked covers. Of Elizabethan
cups made between 1560 and 1576, my Chronological
List enumerates 67 as still existing in this county, but with
them it names less than 20 Paten-covers.
Of the wish of the Prelates that each cup should have a
cover so fashioned as to be easily held in the officiating
minister's hand as a paten, when the Communion bread was
distributed, the above-mentioned Injunction of Archbishop
Grindal, in the Northern Province, is the first intimation
known to me.
As soon as Archbishop Grindal was translated to the See
of Canterbury he framed Articles of Inquiry for the Southern
Province, in the 2nd of which he asked: " Whether you
have in your Parish Churches a fair and comely
Communion cup of silver, and a cover of silver for the same,
which may serve also for the ministration of the Communion
bread."
The Paten-covers still extant in Kent shew that this
Visitation Inquiry produced its intended effect; we find
8 of them inscribed 1577, and 4 dated 1578.
Of Elizabethan ALMS-DISHES, the only examples I have
found in Kent are those in Canterbury Cathedral. The
large one is extremely plain ; the other two have embossed
centres. On each of the three, a narrow Elizabeth moulding
runs around the rims.
There are certain characteristics, of Elizabethan Communion
Cups, which are striking and not easily mistaken ;
but the variety produced by the ingenuity of artistic
goldsmiths, in their use of these characteristics, is very
© ns%®
* es
ELIZABETHAN CUP AT SWINGFIELD, NEAB DOVEE,
With a Conical Stem, and Belts of Hyphens. Made in 1562-3.
Height 7 | inches; diameter of mouth 3 | ; depth of bowl 34.
Instead of a knop on the stem, there is a deep and well moulded
collar between the bowl and the stem.
The cups at Lyminge, Swalocliffe, and St. Mary in the Marsh,
afford varied examples of conical stems to be compared with the
stem of this oup.
(We are indebted to the courtesy of the SOCIETY OI? ANTIQUAEIES
for this Plate.)
DEAN CASTILION'S CUP AT LENHAM. 339
great. Several writers have supposed these Elizabethan
Cups to be so uniformly alike that there must have been
some authoritative order given with respect to their shape
and pattern. This is altogether a mistaken notion. If fifty
of the Elizabethan Cups now remaining in Kent were placed
side by side upon a table, I believe we should scarcely find
two that were precisely alike in every respect. They vary in
height from 5 to 8f inches. Of the three portions, bowl,
stem, and foot, which go to make up a cup, each portion is
found to have been made the subject of a large number of
variations, in shape, in mouldings, and in engraving. The
stem may be much elongated, or it may disappear altogether,
as in the cups at Wateringbury (see illustration opposite
page 356), Mereworth, Yalding, and elsewhere. The stem
may be conical as at Lyminge; or its diameter may be small
in the middle and large above and below; it may be quite
plain at its central point,
or it may have there one
moulding, or three (varying
much in size, and also
in ornament), to form a
knop which assists the
officiating minister to
hold it firmly. It may
have mouldings, between
it and the bowl, of a
reeded ornament, of a
starlike pattern, or of a
frill-like character (as at
Lenham and Wateringbury)
. The variations in
the stems are very numerous.
Equally numerous
are the varieties of
size, shape, and moulding,
of the foot, where,
so often, we find the egg
and tongue moulding. ELIZABETHAN Cur AT LENHAM CHUECH.
The bowl is varied still Made in 1562-3. Height 8$ inches.
z 2
1
I
•
ms
B
«
\
\
340 ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENTATION.
more extensively. It may be very deep in proportion to the
cup's height, or it may be shallow. It may be bell-shaped
with curved lip, or egg-shaped with straight lip, or a truncated
cone. It may be plain, or it may have moulded ribs
upon it, as at Lenham. It may be enriched with repousse
work like those at St. Mary in the Marsh, at Faversham,
and elsewhere. It may be adorned with engraved belts,
sometimes called strapwork; having one or two, or perhaps
three such belts. These belts again are varied, and varied
greatly. They are generally formed of patterns (from \ to \
an inch wide) running between two narrow straps or fillets,
which encircle the bowl. Each narrow fillet usually consists
of two straight lines, -rVth or £th of an inch apart, the small
space between these lines being filled with simple linear
chasing, like continuous letters " m " written in a cramped
and pointed Italian hand. But the fillet may be left void, or
it may consist of only one single line. These fillets are at
certain points made to leave their parallel course, and to cross
each other; the upper coming down to occupy the course of
the lower one, which ascends to run the upper course. This
intersection usually forms a figure like an 8 without its top
and bottom lines. Great variety is introduced into the
method and number of the crossings of these fillets. Sometimes
they cross only twice; on other bowls they cross three
times, or four, or six times. On some cnps pendants hang
from the points of intersection; on others there are both
projections above and pendants below, at each of these
points. The pendants may be all equal, or alternately large
and small.
Between the fillets the pattern is sometimes formed of
foliage, called woodbine; in other belts it is formed of
simple punctions, like hyphens, or tear-drops, ranged in rows.
Towards the close of the sixteenth century other variations
were introduced. On the Annesley Cup at Lee (1593), the
donor's arms and some roses are inserted in the belt.
Although the engraved belts are usually formed of one
pattern between two fillets, there, nevertheless, are some
elaborate belts, like those on the cups at Hothfield and
Lenham, which consist of three distinct patterns, and four
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WESTKBHAM COMMUNION CUP WITH COVEB,
Made in Nuremberg circa A.D. 1600.
Total height 12 inches.
ELIZABETHAN ORNAMENTATION. 341
fillets, all intricately interwoven in a very graceful and
skilful manner.
I rara
PATTEEN or ENGEAVED BELT ON ELIZABETHAN CUP, AT HOTHFIELD
CHUEOH. Made in 1562-3.
The peculiarities and varieties to be found on Elizabethan
Cups will be sufficiently indicated by what has now been said;
but our illustrations will give a better idea of them than
any words can do. I have not mentioned such examples as
the fine covered cup (engraved on the next page) given by
Mrs. Ludwell to Charing Church, nor the exquisite covered
cup at Westerham Church, because, although of the same
period, these were not made for use as Elizabethan Communion
Cups. Mrs. Ludwell's cup, made in 1599, and embossed with
escallop shells, was not dedicated to the service of God
until 1765. There is one very like it at Kensington Parish
Church. The Westerham Cup is not of English make; it
is a glorious example of the best Nuremberg work; it may
have been made at the end of Elizabeth's reign, or perhaps
a little later.
I t maybe well to mention the fact that the characteristic
belts and mouldings, used during the long reign of Queen
Elizabeth, were not at once discarded by goldsmiths when
342 MRS. LUDWELL'S CUP AT CHARING.
she died. They will be found
occurring, also, during the
reigns of James I. and Charles
I., with such slight variations
that the casual observer will
mistake the pieces they adorn
for Elizabethan works. As examples,
we may cite the Sevenoaks
Cups, one made in 1617,
which was given by Mr. Scott;
the other made in 1634, and
presented by Mr. Leigh. Both
have Elizabethan characteristics,
and Mr. Scott's cup has
so many Elizabethan features
that it might well mislead a
good judge of such things. At
Swanscombe the cup, made in
1623, has the foliage upon its
belt changed from woodbine to
oak leaves and acorns, but the
eye does not at once observe
this difference from the Elizabethan
pattern.
Simple as the details of
Elizabethan work seem to be,
modern engravers find it difficult
to equal the grace and
beauty of their tout ensemble.
Let anyone examine the praiseworthy
imitations attempted
upon the modern flagons at
Lenham, Bekesbonrne, and elsewhere. Although the modern
engravers had the old cnps before them to copy from,
they have utterly failed to reproduce the graceful and
pleasing effect obtained by the " old hands."
MES. LUDWELL'S STANDING Cur,
WITH COVEE.
Made in 1599. Height 20 inches.
ELIZABETHAN PLAGONS. 343
FLAGONS OE STOUTS.
In many parishes probably the silver Cup and Paten-cover
were the only Elizabethan vessels. Flagons or Stoups were
seldom used until the 17th century. Even at the present
time there are many churches into which they have never
been introduced.
Stoups or Flagons of Elizabethan date are consequently
extremely rare; but in Kent we have four late examples. It
is, however, certain that not one of them was used in a
church during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
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WEST MALLING, DELFTWAEE JUG, IN SILVEE MOUNTS.
Made in 1581. Height 91 inches.
The West Malling stoup or jug, made of Delftware, and
mounted with a foot, neck, lid, handle, and body-straps, of
silvergilt, Hall-marked in London during 1581-2, can scarcely
have been intended for ecclesiastical use. The mountings
344 CHURCH PLATE IN KENT.
make it an admirable work of art; they are richly adorned
with engraving and repousse work. This handsome and
interesting stoup was probably given to the Church of West
Malling at some time during the 17th century. It has long
been disused. It is far handsomer than a similarly mounted
jug of stoneware at Vintners' Hall in London, which was
made in 1562, and was engraved by Mr. Cripps in Old English
Plate, 2nd ed., p. 203. Mr. Cripps gives notes of 18 other
examples on the following page, and mentions, on pp. 273,
275, others belonging to the Duke of Northumberland and
Mr. A. W. Franks. I learn from the Eev. P. Williams, of
Rewe, that at Menheniot Church, near Liskeard, there are
two of these stoneware flagons.
The handsome pear-shaped flagon at Biddenden (made in
1592-3) was not presented to the Church until 1613. The
pair of similar flagons, gilt, at Westwell, made, one in 1594-5
and the other in 1597-8, were not dedicated to the service of
God's House until after 1630. The entry respecting them
in the Parish Eegister, circa 1630, is
very quaint: " Gregory Baker, born at
Ripple, parish of Westwell, in the
county of Kent, seeing all went into the
city, and none into the temple (where,
because he had found great consolation,
he desired to make some poor oblation),
gave to the Church of Westwell
2 guilt flagons and a gnilt Communion
cuppe with a cover, weighing in all one
hundred and three ounces. Mr. John
Viney being at that time Vicar thereat."
GEEGOET BAKEE'S HO W mUGh the Biddenden and West-
PLAGONS, I I J inches high, well flagons excel in beauty those ordi-
Made in 1594 and 1597. ., -, T . ,, . • n m - „
narily used during the reign oi Mizabeth,
we may understand by referring to an engraving given
by Mr. Cripps, in Old English Plate, p. 159. It represents
a silver flagon made in 1576, one of a pair now used at
Cirencester Ohurch. Archdeacon Lea mentions two, made
in 1591, which belong to Tredington Church, in Worcestershire,
but which were not given to that church until 1638.
PLAGONS. 345
They are two or three inches shorter than our Kentish
examples. Mr. Cripps also mentions a pair at St. Margaret's,
Westminster, made in 1583; another pair at Eendcombe,
Glostershire, made in 1592 ; and a third pair at St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, not Elizabethan, but made in 1613 and
1614. These flagons are variously described as "bowlshaped,"
"jug-shaped," "pear-shaped," or "round-bellied."
Those at Canterbury Cathedral (made in 1664-5) are of similar
shape, but they have spouts, their lids are surmounted by
crosses, and their height is greater. They likewise have
ornaments cut out of thin silver plate, and applique to
their surface.
Were flagons or stoups of any kind generally used as
Communion Vessels in Parish Churches during the reign of
Elizabeth ? It seem3 to me that they were not.
The Churchwardens of Strood, next Eochester, recorded
in their Account-books an Inventory of all the Parish Church
Goods, almost every year. I have examined these Inventories,
and find that the only Communion Vessels which Strood
possessed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth after the
chalice was sold, were a "Cup of silver with a Cover of
silver."* After the Canons of 1603-4 were enacted we find
that the Strood Churchwardens purchased, of Eobert Ewer,
for 9s. 6d., in 1607, "two pewter pots to serve the wine at
the Communion." Until 1607 Strood Church possessed no
Communion flagon, stoup, or pot whatever. The Bishops in
their Visitation Articles, before 1604, never mention any
other vessels than the " comely Communion cup of silver
with a cover of silver for the same." In 1605, however,
Archbishop Bancroft began to require " a cleene and sweete
standing pot of pewter or other pure metall" ;f and other
bishops did likewise.
We know that the Elizabethan stoups or flagons, now
belonging to the churches of Biddenden, Westwell, and
* The Aocounts of the Churchwardens of Repton in Derbyshire shew that
up to 1602 the parish possessed only a "ohalice"; not until 1630 do we find
mention of a " Pewter Plaggine " (Journal of Derbyshire Archceological Society,
vol. i., pp. 31, 32.
t fleport of the Ritual Commission, 1868, pp. 451, 455. Compare the earlier
enquiries, pp. 437, 444; and one later on, p. 461, without mention of flagon or
pot.
346 CHURCH PLATE IN KENT.
Tredington were not given to those churches until the reigns
of James I. or of Charles I. It thus becomes extremely
doubtful whether any flagons were used for the Holy Communion
before the last decade of the 16th century; it is
certain that in nine-tenths of our churches there were none
before the 20th Canon of 1603-4 was enacted. That Canon
says," Wine we require to be brought to the Communion Table
in a clean and sweet standing pot or stoup of pewter, if not
of purer metal." At Salisbury Cathedral the oldest silver
flagon is of the Elizabethan shape, but made in 1606.
Of the tall straight-bodied flagons, so universal for the
last two centuries, the oldest now extant in silver were made
in 1602, and are at New College Chapel in Oxford; then
come a pair, 1608, at Brasenose; and a pair, 1610, at Salisbury
Cathedral. These had no sponts. Some persons consider
them to savour more of the buttery-hatch than of the church;
but if they will look at the illustration we give, of one belonging
to St. Mary's Church at Dover, made about 1636-7, they
will see how easily and how wisely (by means of a simple
addition or finial to the lid), Canon Puckle has wrought a
complete change in its character.
In Kent we have at Lower Hardres and at Stelling
examples of shaped flagons or silver jugs, pure and simple,
made in 1706-7, which, although ugly, maybe better adapted
for pouring out the wine than are those of the old tall
pattern without spouts. Lydd also has a shaped jug, of
smaller size, made in 1738.
Among the tallest flagons in England are four given to
Faversham Church, in compliance with the bequest of
Stephen Haward. They were made in 1643-4, and of one
pair each stands 17 inches high; of the other pair each is 3^
inches shorter. Those made for the Duke of Lenox in 1653,
and bequeathed to Eochester Cathedral by Sir Joseph
Williamson are handsome, although they are an inch shorter
than the smallest of those given by Stephen Haward to
Faversham. Sir Anthony Percival's flagon at. St. Mary's,
Dover; the Countess of Dorset's flagon at Sevenoaks Church
(1638), and that bequeathed by Sir John Astley to Maidstone
Church (1641), all of them handsome, and all taller than the
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