Description:
English creamware, press-molded staghead (or male deerhead) stirrup cup or rhyton with short horns and large pointed fluted ears. The form was press molded in two pieces horizontally and joined together by slip. Antlers and ears were molded separately and applied. Traditionally huntsmen mounted on horseback and about to depart for the hunt had a drink as a toast to success in the pursuit of their quarry. Stirrup cups are designed without a stem or foot so that the rider can grasp the vessel in a gloved hand while clutching the reins of a horse. The vessels represented the animals involved in the hunt such as dogs, foxes, hares and stags. Over time, more elaborate designs usually with a hunting theme were produced, which occasionally had inscriptions connected with the chase. Stirrup cups are usually related to fox hunting, the cups associated with stag hunting are very rare. Although silversmiths were producing stirrup cups as early as 1771, most cups were produced in several ceramic forms including creamware, pearlware, and black basalt. In Norman England the hunting of deer and boar was reserved for royalty and courtiers. The quarry species were protected within Royal Forests and it was a serious offence to ki them there except as part of a Royal Hunt. The priviledge was extended to major landowners and senior churchmen but by the mid-18th century stag hunting (mainly fallow and roe deer) reverted to being a largely royal pastime once again. Stag hunts remained a popular subject for ceramic decoration until well into the 19th century.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2006.33.31 |
