A FINE AND RARE SILVER AND PARCEL-GILT CUP, GOLDEN HORDE,...

Name: A FINE AND RARE SILVER AND PARCEL-GILT CUP, GOLDEN HORDE, CENTRAL ASIA, 13TH-14TH CENTURY
Description: Silver and parcel-gilt the deep rounded body with central gilt medallion incised and punched with blossom design, a foliate-edged thumb-rest riveted to the rim with en-suite decoration.
11 cm.
Height 2,5 cm.

This type of drinking cup (or 'belt-bowl'), which has its origins in eastern Asia, spread west from the Ural river during the Mongol expansion of the early thirteenth century.
It was carried in a bag that hung from the traveller's belt.

Catalogue Note
Two similar cups are illustrated in: The Treasures of the Golden Horde, The State Hermitage Museum, The State Historical Museum exhibition catalogue, St Petersburg, 2000, cat. no. 41, p.70 and cat. no. 60, p.228.