ental stone. An
example of the former from the Hamilton Palace collection, as well as
several ordinary mazers, are to be seen in the British Museum. The types
above described are of English origin, with the exception of that made
entirely of silver, which is thought to be French. Most of the
continental forms differed from the English, and were more elaborately
finished. One of the finest is that which belonged to Louis de Male,
last count of Flanders. It is an exceedingly thin, shallow bowl of
fine-grained wood, with a cover of the same make. The latter is
surmounted by a silver figure of a falcon holding a shield in its mouth
with the arms of the count. The foot is of silver with lozenge-shaped
panels inserted, bearing in enamel the arms of the count. A German form
of the 16th century consisted of a depressed sphere of wood for the
bowl, with a silver rim, and a cover formed of a similarly shaped
sphere, called in France a "creusequin." Such mazers were furnished in
addition with a short metal handle turned up at the end, a feature
unknown in the English types. All of these again are to be seen in the
British Museum series.

Hanaps.

Although the use of wooden vessels more or less elaborately mounted was
continued well into the 16th century as a fashion, many other materials
of far greater value were in use among the wealthy long before that
time. Crystal, agate and other hard stones, ivory, Chinese porcelain, as
well as more ordinary wares, were all in use, as well as the precious
metals. The inventories of the 14th and 15th centuries are full of
entries showing that such precious cups were fairly common. Of gold cups
of any antiquity naturally but few remain; the intrinsic value of the
metal probably is a sufficient explanation. One of the most important in
existence is however preserved in the British Museum, viz. the royal
gold cup of the kings of England and France. It is of nearly pure gold
with a broad bowl and a high foot, the cover pyramidal. The whole is
ornamented with translucent enamels of the most perfect quality, and
with a little damage in one part, absolutely well preserved. The
subjects represented on it are scenes from the life of St Agnes, in two
rows, one on the cover and one outside the bowl; on the foot are the
symbols of the four Evangelists, and around the base a coronal of leaves
alternating with pearls; the cover originally had a similar adjunct, but
it has unfortunately been cut away.