The Warren Cup
- Audio guide stop: 541
- Gallery: Room 70
- Culture: Roman
- Made in: Levant (probably)
- Date: 15BC - AD15
- Object type: drinking-cup
- Materials: silver
- Museum number: 1999,0426.1
- 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 Warren Cup," a beautifully crafted Roman silver drinking vessel. This stemmed cup originally had two vertical handles—now lost—and a split outer casing, designed for easy drinking and cleaning. The outer casing is richly decorated: raised by hammering and refined with chasing and engraving, once enhanced with gold leaf traces.
The decoration features two interior scenes depicting male homosexual encounters. On one side, a bearded older man interacts with a beardless youth. On the reverse, two young men are shown, one crowned and another perhaps a slave at the doorway.
Made in the Levant around 15 BC to AD 15, the cup reflects Hellenistic style and a Greek-influenced Roman setting. It may have been created for a wealthy Greek community in the Eastern Mediterranean, and it likely belonged to a collector in Jerusalem.
See it in person
The Warren Cup is on display in Room 70 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 541, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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