Communion cup (one of two)

I T

1631/32 · Silver · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

In the mid-sixteenth century, thousands of Protestants immigrated to England from the Spanish Netherlands, where they had been subject to persecution by the Inquisition. Some were French-speaking Walloons (a distinct community within present-day Belgium), while others were Dutch-speaking Flemings. This pair of communion cups was used in the Walloon chapel in Canterbury Cathedral. After 1685, when French Protestants (Huguenots) lost their protection from persecution, an even larger wave of immigrants arrived in England.

Artist

I T

Date

1631/32

Medium

Silver

Culture

British, London

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1968