{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O85008"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O85008/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AT2396/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AT2396/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AT2396","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC5914","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O85008/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O85008","accessionNumber":"M.103:1 to 3-1925","objectType":"Lidded cup","titles":[{"title":"The Sterne Cup","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"This two-handled cup is a presentation piece, given by King Charles II to Richard Sterne, the archbishop of York, and then handed down within his family. From the form's introduction in the early 17th century, the large two-handled cup held a high status in England. It was used as a ceremonial drinking vessel and presented as a mark of honour and reward. Until Charles II abolished the practice as an economic measure in about 1680, it had been the tradition since the Middle Ages to exchange presents at court on New Year's Day. For an archbishop, the customary gift from the king was an object weighing 46 ounces, close to the weight of the Sterne Cup.\n\r\nThe cup had been offered to the Museum as early as 1864. But the Museum's curator at that time, J. C. Robinson, took the view that English silver of this period was merely 'useful plate' and rejected the piece, saying, 'I do not think it can be considered as coming within the category of works of art.' By the time the cup was offered to, and acquired by, the Museum in 1925, its acquisition was suppported, as it was described by a curator in the metalwork department as 'a piece of English silver of remarkably fine character, very much more important than anything of the kind we have. It is precisely such examples of outstanding quality which are needed to give weight and solidity in building up the national collection.' The Museum was in competition to purchase the cup with the leading London silver dealer Lionel Crichton, and the cost, £1,000, swallowed up the entire annual acquisition budget of the Metalwork Department. \r\n\r\nAlthough it was stressed then that 'this is just the kind of really fine work of art which we must increasingly aim at supporting', the antiquarian emphasis on the cup's royal association and the link, however tenuous, with the archbishop's great-grandson, the novelist Laurence Sterne, who wrote <i>Tristram Shandy</i>, have together given the cup a special standing. This seems to have outweighed what is now perceived as its rather poor quality as a piece of goldsmith's work.  A coat of arms on the lid incorporates incorporating elements of the Sterne family’s chevron and three crosses.The heraldic device was probably added to record the marriage of Thomas Pulleyne and Mary Sterne in 1739. Mary died in 1786, so it seems that the cup was never owned by the novelist Laurence Sterne himself, although it was clearly an object which was valued in the Sterne family and passed down through the generations. \r\n\n\n","physicalDescription":"The Sterne Cup, Silver, lidded, two-handled cup, 20 x 25.4 x 16.5 cm, mark of unidentified goldsmith \"AC\".","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"engraving","id":"AAT53829"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver, gilded","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006AT2396","2017KC5914"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"65","id":"THES49734"},"free":"","case":"15","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"65","id":"THES49734"},"free":"","case":"15","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES412245"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"cups","id":"AAT43202"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":""}],[{"text":"Box","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1673-1674","earliest":"1673-01-01","latest":"1674-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"20","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"25.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"16.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"approx.","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'AC'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"silver","method":"engraved","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"Maker's identification","note":"Maker's identification; engraved; silver"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"The Sterne Cup, silver, mark of unidentified goldsmith \"AC\", England, 1673-74","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), <i>A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, London: V&A Publications, 1999.","id":"AUTH348910"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Dodds, Douglas <i>A Sentimental Journey through South Kensington: Laurence Sterne and the V&A</i>; <u>The Shandean</u>, vol. 29, November 2018, pp 157-163"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["M.103:1-1925","M.103:2-1925","M.103:3-1925"],"accessionNumberNum":"103","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1925,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Cup","Lid","Box"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-16","recordCreationDate":"2003-10-29","availableToBook":false}}