The Department of Agriculture Short Horn Cattle Class Cup

The Department of Agriculture Short Horn Cattle Class Cup

RDS_treasures_C18_Walker & Hall_Irish Government cup.jpg

Realistically modelled as The Warwick Vase, with beaded shell and dart rim, the campana-form body chased with lion’s pelts and applied in high relief with Bacchic masks and thyrsi, with a roundel of chased stiff leaves below, the twin reeded bifurcated and entwined scroll handles with vine tendrils, on a gadrooned socle and square base with a further silver mounted stone base, the sides of the stone base each applied with a silver plaque, one engraved with an inscription SPRING SHOW 1978 FOR THE BEST ANIMAL SELECTED UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S SHORT HORN CATTLE IMPROVEMENT SCHEME, the other side engraved with names and dates, all contained in a fitted oak case.

The original Warwick Vase dates from the 2nd century B.C. and was excavated in fragments by Gavin Hamilton, a Scottish painter, antiquarian and art dealer, in 1769–70 from the grounds of the Villa Tiburtina near Tivoli, Rome, which belonged to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The vase was purchased in 1778 by George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, from Sir William Hamilton, a British diplomat in Rome and a collector of antiquaries.

RDS Treasures Collection

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RDS Library & Archives

Silver

1914

Silver-gilt

27.5 cm