The Bacon Cup
- Gallery: Room 46
- Culture: London
- Made in: London (England)
- Date: 1574
- Object type: standing cup
- Materials: silver
- Museum number: 1915,0313.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is "The Bacon Cup," a striking silver-gilt standing cup made in London around 1574. You'll notice the almost hemispherical bowl resting on a baluster stem and an expanding foot. The cup is richly engraved and inscribed, telling a story of English history and family legacy.
Look closely at the band below the rim—three suspended shields hold the arms of Sir Nicholas Bacon and his family, showing his status through marriage and lineage. The cup was made from silver taken from the Great Seal of Queen Mary Tudor, a prestigious royal symbol.
The foot is divided by a decorative reeded band, and the cover features a three-handled urn topped with a boar, part of the Bacon crest. This is one of three special cups created for Sir Nicholas Bacon, with this one passing through generations until it was donated to the nation.
Its craftsmanship and historical significance make it a true treasure of the period.
See it in person
The Bacon Cup is on display in Room 46 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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