Two-Handled Vase with an Amorous Inscription, c. 1470-80, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), H. 9 5/8 in. Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Selected Works
Celebrating
Betrothal, Marriage, and Childbirth
Two-Handled Vase
with an Amorous Inscription
This form of two-handled cup, called a coppa amatoria, or wedding cup, would probably have been exchanged as a betrothal gift or for use at a wedding feast. The inscription, which wraps around the cupids on each side, reads: "I give you this, beautiful one, as a token of my love" and "for the love I bear thee in this fine cup." One can imagine the cup would have been used in a ritual in which the groom drank from it and then passed it to his betrothed, who did the same. The extraordinary handles in the shape of dragons are perhaps based on a prototype in silver of a kind that would have been shown on a tiered buffet or credenza set out at a wedding feast.
