Standing Cup (Ciborium)

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Standing Cup (Ciborium)
Southern Germany; end 15th c.

This type of standing cup, called Buckelpokal, developed late in the 15th c. in Nuremberg. It showed the great skill of the famous city goldsmiths and was treasured in luxurious homes of rich citizens. It is shaped out of clustered spherical lobes that form a cup and a base. The six-part division of the base is topped by ogival pointed lobes with the stem in the middle. The joint of the stem and the cup is hidden under a wide annular addition of intertwined wire and silver particles shaped into leaves and flowers.