The Coronation Cup of His Majesty King Charles III
The Coronation Cup is a very special Goldsmiths’ Company commission – one of three commissions made to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.
The other two are the Cross of Wales by Michael Lloyd, which led the procession into Westminster Abbey for the service, and the King’s coronation slipper buckles, made by Clive Burr. The Company’s association with coronations, however, goes back much further; the Bowes Cup of 1554 is thought to have been used by Elizabeth I at her coronation banquet before it was given to the Company in 1561 ‘as a remembrance’ by Sir Martin Bowes. In the 20th century, the Company commissioned two coronation cups, one made by Leslie Durbin in 1936 for George VI, and the other for Elizabeth II, designed by Robert Yorke Goodden for Wakely and Wheeler in 1953. Elizabeth II’s cup was presented to her at the Mansion House, alongside the Bowes Cup. She drank from her own cup and then graciously presented it to the Company in remembrance of her predecessor, Elizabeth I. The scene is recorded in a contemporary painting by Terence Cuneo. Given this long history, it is hardly surprising that, in the words of Dr Timothy Schroder, “we knew what we had to do” when the late Queen died in 2022.
The Company immediately set about commissioning a cup. There was no time for an open design competition, so we drew up a detailed brief, set up an expert commissioning panel chaired by Dr Schroder, and invited various silversmiths to submit proposals. Finished designs from shortlisted makers formed the basis for the selection of the winners: longstanding artistic partners Clive Burr and Jane Short. Their work is well represented in the Company’s Collection, with pieces including a group of Court Wine Cups made for individual members of the Court of Assistants: Dame Lynne Brindley, Lord Bridges, Ed Butler, Richard Madeley and Victoria Broackes. Short comments how “colour, in the medium of enamel, has been the driving force of my making career and in particular how colour and line work together over a three-dimensional object as the perspective alters. Colour is a very evocative medium.” As she has increasingly concentrated on enamelling and engraving, she collaborates with Burr for the silversmithing and what might be called the engineering of the pieces they make together to commission.
Burr and Short designed and masterminded the cup, working in collaboration with nine specialists: Linda Straupenieks, Junko Adachi, Kyosun Jung, Stefan Coe, Samantha Marsden, Angus McFadyen, Reg Elliott, Fiona Rae and Graham Hamilton. The design is a tribute to His Majesty’s longstanding involvement with the natural world, his leadership on environmental issues and his concern for the future of our planet. It is also intended to complement Elizabeth II’s Coronation Cup, so that the fireball finial is an updated version of that on the late Queen’s vessel.
The cover is inspired by His Majesty’s gardens at Highgrove. The clipped yew hedge of the Sundial Garden forms the rim, while delphiniums in blossom are engraved by Angus McFadyen within the four path-like panels.
The bowl is finely engraved with the royal arms and the arms of the City of London. The knop is exquisitely enamelled and engraved by Short with an artistic representation of Earth as seen from space. The blue enamel continues onto the stem of the cup, depicting the sky viewed through windows of Gothic tracery in silver-gilt. That theme is taken up on the base: when the cup is lifted, a low-relief rose window, pierced in silver-gilt, is revealed. The design emulates the famous rose window in the North transept of Westminster Abbey, the theatre of coronations since 1066. Around the base, Short has engraved the national flowers of the four nations of the United Kingdom – the rose, daffodil, flax and thistle – with four insect pollinators nestled among the flowers. The base is also an important part of the cup’s function as, when the cup is lifted away, it is well-balanced for easy handling.
Expertly laser hallmarked in the Goldsmiths’ Company’s London Assay Office with the sponsor’s mark of both Burr and Short, as well as with the coronation commemorative mark, the cup was finished just in time. It was presented to the King on his first visit to the City as sovereign, at the Mansion House on 18 October 2023. It was placed before him, alongside his mother’s cup as a remembrance of her, as he gave a much-publicised address. The King even referred to the tradition of “the City livery’s production of special and precious items in support of coronations. These include the magnificent[…] Coronation Cup, which your guests have an opportunity to see in the equally magnificent setting of Mansion House this evening.” Its presence on this occasion demonstrated how pieces in our Collection are ambassadors for the Company’s role in national life. Sharing what we do with wider audiences is a way of introducing people to the world-leading British craft of designer silver.
This is a piece that combines formal grace, ceremony and practicality. Its precision and artistry demonstrate how the Goldsmiths’ Company continues to inspire creativity and excellence in its support for contemporary makers.
The Coronation Cup of His Majesty King Charles III will be displayed with other masterpieces of enamel in Goldsmiths’ Hall for the 2024 Goldsmiths’ Fair.