LOVING CUPS

The tradition of a shared cup at special meals goes back to a time out of mind.

The ancient ceremony of the loving cup is popular with London’s Livery companies, the decedents of ancient craft gilds. In the ceremony, as the loving cup is passed around the table, the person who holds the  cup  stands up and bows to his neighbour who, also standing, removes the cover with his right hand and holds it while the other drinks. The last person to have drunk from the cup stands back to back with the person drinking. This way the back of the drinker is protected and the right, or "dagger hand’’, of the person to the front of the drinker is occupied with the cover of the cup so that the person who drinks might not suffer the same fate as King Edward (A.D.962-978) who is reputed to have been killed while drinking.

Many loving cups in use today might better be described as sports trophies. We returned to the type of lidded cup popular in the 14th century, and used in the chivalric tradition of the loving cup, for the design of these cups, the handle of the cover having an obvious resemblance to the pommel of a sword or dagger.