Posted 9 years ago
suebrown
(4 items)
This is another item which belonged to my grandmother and has been in our family for over 70 years. I have been unable to find out anything about it and am hoping someone can fill me in. The cup is 12cm high and 8cm wide. There is an external cup made of some kind of metal and beautifully embossed on the outside - it is quite heavy. The internal cup appears to be wooden, and has a tiny hole on either side at the top. There are no identifying marks anywhere.
Could we please the bottom of the possibility wooden cup? And maybe place the opening of same cup on top of a flashlight (torch) with it on, so we can see the pattern, if light penetrates it, thank you.
I ask to rule out that it is a horn cup like this:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Antique-cow-horn-cup-beaker-/301683059883?
T A
I have attached the photos to the originals. Light does not penetrate the bottom of the cup but it does shine through around the top half. There appears to be very fine vertical striations along the length of the internal cup which veer sideways towards the drinking end. It is similar in that way to the horn cup but dark brown in colour. It is very fine - probably 1mm thick.
It looks like it could be horn, some had a metal (perhaps a sterling) rim attached to the top, the holes are where it was attached to the horn rim. The bottom could be a piece of turned wood inset to form the end. Not much to offer, but I hope it helps.
T A
Yes, I think the internal cup is horn - thanks for that! It's origin remains a mystery though. I have not been able to find any images or reference to horn cups nested inside an engraved metal container