My Stirrup Cup Runneth Over

Intricate and valuable silver stirrup cups, be they fox, hound, fish, bear, eagle or even gorilla, are far more likely to be found in a safe than on the hunting field today, explains Peter Greenhalgh

- Peter Greenhalgh

THE first recorded fox hunt in Britain took place in Norfolk in 1534 and, from the start, drinking vessels with an alcoholic chaser were offered at the meet. They were known as stirrup cups: ‘Come, haste and quaff the stirrup-cup!/Turn down the empty glass!’ urged poet W. H. Ogilvie in English Grass.

They first took the form of footless glass goblets and, later, silver modelled as animal heads. Common to both was a shape that couldn’t be set down and they were, therefore, served from a special tray. Occasionally, the snout and ears of the animals were created in such a way that the cup could stand upright.

The first silver stirrup cups, fashioned as fox masks, were made in London in the 1770s. These were originally made in two halves, which were soldered together, although later ones were often cast. Other animals including hares, hounds, horses, stags and boars followed, many created by renowned silversmiths such as Hester Bateman, Samuel Hennell and Paul Storr. Relatively few examples were made in Old Sheffield plate.