Grace Cup returns to Glastonbury Abbey for Festive exhibition

The Glastonbury Grace cup, a 16th Century tankard carved from oak, which was last exhibited here in 1886 has at last returned to the Abbey for the first time in 125 years to feature in an exhibition for the Christmas period.

The cup which miraculously survived traumatic events during the Englsh Civil War is a prized possession of the Arundells of Wardour in Wiltshire and it's fine carvings show the 12 apostles around the tankard with a scene depicting the crucifixion on its lid, while on the handle can be seen a bunch of grapes.  

A Grace Cup was the vessel in which it was customary to drink wine from in Greek and Roman feasts and the Anglo-Saxon custom of drinking healths involved participants drinking from a large 'wassail bowl', and as this large tankard is one of a type intended for sharing it would have been passed around the Abbots table on special occasions.  This type of drinking vessel was also known as a peg tankard due to the pegs located vertically inside which would have allocated each drinker an equal measure

Thus while family tradition holds that the cup originally belonged to Glastonbury Abbey and was given for safe-keeping to a Catholic ancestor at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, more recent research however suggests it was instead from the 16th or 17th Century.  The style of the cup suggests that it was probably made in Germany or Central Europe.  One theory is that it was brought back from Hungary by the 1st Lord Arundell who fought on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire.

On show in the exhibition alongside the Grace Cup is a replica in silver gilt, loaned by Kooperman Rare Art that was cast by the silversmith Philip Rundell.

If you want to take a look yourself The Grace Cup which went on show at the Abbey yesterday will remain on display until 31st January 2012.