Cup

Art Historical Context

This exquisite silver-gilt cup, at 8½ inches tall, is a 19th-century British electro reproduction of a 16-century German original. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, it was generously gifted by Henry G. Marquand 1883. Adorned with lively parrot motifs—evident from its tags—the cup captures the whimsical yet refined artistry of Renaissance metalwork, where birds often symbolized exoticism, wealth and delight. Electrotyping, the innovative classification here, was a Victorian-era technique using electrolysis to create precise copies ...