The Lambarde Cup

PLATE IV THE LAl\lBAIWE CUI'. ( , 135 THE LAMBARDE CUP THERE is no doubt that the Lambarde Cup is the most interesting and valuable possession of the Drapers' Company. Although neither large nor massive, standing only 12½ inches high, it is of beautiful workmanship and proportions, and its association and history render it especially remarkable. The cup is described in the Company's ancient records of 1578 as "a small standing cup with a cover all guilt weying 25 oz ¾, having the Armes of England, the Armes of the Company of Drapers, the Armes of Sir William Cordelle1 Knight so:inetymes Master of the Rolls engraven on the topp." Round the rim of the cup is the following posy :" A proctour for the poore am I * remember theim before thow dye. 1578,", and between each Coat of Arms is the engraved portrait of a man's head-one represents a broadfeatured bearded man, with four birds standing round it ; another is of a man with whiskers, beard, and moustache, between two flying birds, and the third is of a youth in a 􀂓at cap and_ a small ruffle, flanked by two winged figures terminating in a scroll instead of legs and feet. The hallmark is the London mark of the year 1578, and the maker's mark is a bird in a shield. It is probable that the maker was John Bird, who was a well-known goldsmith of the period, and of whose work several examples are known. But until April 1697, when the New, or Britannia, Standard of Silver was introduced, there is no record at Goldsmiths' Hall of the names of makers. After this date the names, addresses, and dates of entry at the Hall, together with an impression of the actual stamps adopted by the makers, are carefully recorded. The cup was purchased· by William Lambarde2, the antiquary (and the author of The Perambulation of Kent), 1 Sir William Cordelle was Maswr of the Rolla from 1567 to 1681. 2 For his life, see D.N.B. 136 THE LAMBARDE CUP, in 1577-8, as the following extracts from a book of accounts kept by him will show :- " 1577 Mychael [Michaelmas]. Paide for a moalde to cast the Badges of the poor lliis & for the Bishop seales to theire praiers xs & towards a cuppe for the Drapers xu & more for the said cup & case for it." xu " 2 October 1578 Extraordinary Charges } I spent this yeare 14n (or thearabouts for the pardons of Alienacon of Oriels etc. & for the pleading thereof : Ten poundes for the cuppe to the Drapers : and ten poundes I forgave Mr. Low." He was not himself a member of the Drapers' Company, but his father, John Lambarde,1 had been Master in 1547, 1550, and 1552, and his brother Giles, who died without issue, was a Freeman. William Lambarde was the founder by Royal Charter of the 25th November, 1575, of the almshouses in Greenwich known to this day as Queen Elizabeth's College, of which he appointed the Master of the Rolls to be President and the two upper Wardens of the Drapers' Company to be Governors. Hence we get the three coats of arms on the cup-those of England for the Charter, those of Sir William Cordelle for the President, and those of the Drapers' Company for the Governors. On Monday, the 4th August, 1578, the Drapers' Company went as usual to St. Michael's Church for their annual El􀂼ction Service, and " at their Retorne ffrome Churche Mr. William Lambard, gent: dyd present the Mr. Wardens with a cup of Silver and gilt with a cover, having the Armes of England the Armes of the Mr. of the Rowles and the Armes 1 The name is spelt " Lambert " in the Company's records of 1544, "Lamberd" in 1547 and 1550, and "Lambo.rd" in 1550 and 1552. In. his will at Somerset Honse it is spelt both "Lambarde "and "Lambo.rd." The signature on his will is " Lam bo.rd." THE LAMBARDE OUP. 137 of this Company ingraved there9n to Remayne to this Company for Ever and also he dyd present the Mr. Wardens with a small Rundelet of 4 gallons of Ipocras with Request further that the last draught at the Election of the new Mr. and Wardens might be owt of that Cupp which thing was performed accordingly ". From this extract from the Records ( +257, p. 102) it will be seen that the cup was to belong to the Drapers' Company for ever, although it was described by Lambarde as " the College cup " in his Ordinances for the government of the College. The following extract ( +356, p. 18) shows how the cup was to be handed down from Warden to Warden through the ages:- " First I ordayne that the said two elder or upper l\i!r. Wardens -0f the said Company of the Drapers beinge for the tyme Oovernors of the said Colledg shall receave all the revenues -Of the landes of the said Colledge and the same shall bestowe and keepe in the Chest pertayninge to the said Collegde and remayneinge in the Common Hall of the said Company untill they shall have cause to disburce the same upon the reparacons pensions fees etc. or other affo,iers of the said Colledge, And shall at thend of each yeare give a true accompte of their receiptes .and expences in that behalfe to the :Mr. and Assistentes of the .said Company, and shall then also in their presence deliver over into the ban.des of their successors beinge upper or elder Mr. Wardens All such somes of money as shall there remayne undisburced togeather with their severall keyes of that chest, -the Colledge cup which I gave to the said Company of the Drapers, the one parte of the Colledge seale and all the evidences bookes and wrytinges pertayninge to the said Colledge and remayninge in the said Chest." On several subsequent occasion s the Company were obliged to melt down all their plate in order to meet the demands of the Crown and the Government for money, and the Lambarde Cup is the only piece that escaped destruction. In the years 1640 and 1641 it is described in the Accounts as "the College Cup," and from 1642 to 1860 as" It belongs to 138 THE LAMBARDE CUP. Queen Elizabeth's College, East Greenwich." It is possible that these entries were made in order to indicate that the. Cup belonged more to the College than to the Company, so that, when the Company's own property was sacrificed, they might be able to keep the Cup, and so carry out Lambarde's wish that it should remain to the Company for ever. However that may be, it certainly is a faot that the Cup is the only piece of plate now in the possession of the Company that belonged to them before the Commonwealth. The days of ipocras are no more, but the members of the Drapers' Company still drink in a Loving Cup at the Election Dinner, and still go to Church on the afternoon of the same day. Nor is William Lambarde forgotten. Queen Elizabeth's College is still a harbour of refuge for the aged poor, and still the Lambarde Cup graces with its beauty the board where sit the descendants of those Wardens who nearly 350 years ago, first drank from it with William Lambarde.