Royal Terrestrial Silver and Gold Gilt Globe Cup Dating from 1746 Discovered at the Rheydt Museum in Mönchengladbach

Abstract

The Wunderkammer at the Rheydt Museum in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, holds a vast collection of scientific instruments, Renaissance goblets, medals, exotic pieces, paintings, plaques, and other objects that traditionally formed part of the treasure rooms of wealthy collectors. However, one particularly interesting object escaped the attention it deserved until the summer of 2025. It had been overlooked since 1953 when it had been acquired. It is a rare, silver and gold world cup, carried by an Atlantean figure, in an example of exquisite Baroque craftsmanship. Thanks to the excellent collaboration with the museum, it was possible for the first time to study this religious object in detail. The research methods I used were based on analogy in the arts, stemmatics, history of cartography, historiography, XRF and comparative analysis. On the globe cup made of 800 silver, known as Continental silver, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Scotland is prominently engraved. In addition, it is dated 1746 and bears a decorative French rocaille in the form of acanthus, the symbol of eternal life. As it is a ciborium with the characteristic gold gilt on the inside of the globe, it was possible to identify the map(s) the designer used as a template. The engraver used at least two different maps. One inspired him for the cartouche and the date, and one world map for the cartography for the globe. The filigree decorative scenes engraved on the globe also originated from maps. The key breakthrough came from the engraving of the wording Americana rusica (Russian America) and Littora (coastline) as on a 1746 map by Johann Matthias Hase and Georg Moritz Lowitz published by Homann Heirs. The engraver was concerned with displaying the most up-to-date geographical information on the globe. Apparently, the Australian interior was still unknown, and so, in a moment of horror vacui , he somewhat speculatively placed an elephant there. The size of the object is that of a French royal foot, allowing us to identify the most likely source for its making. This is supported by the line of longitude on the globe that runs through Ferro and the 800 silver content as confirmed by XRF, the second standard silver content used in France in the 18th century. The narrative thema and design of the historical ciborium is religious and political in nature. The globe bears a Latin acronym “N.S.E.” that stands for “ nostrum sepulcrum est ” which means “it is our grave”. Baroque art is known often to incorporate tragic themes into its iconography. This is clearly depicted on the globe cup. Next to the escutcheon, in a textile frame, known as a baldachin that symbolizes the sacred elevation of a funerary monument, held by a stork and flying putti, is a kneeling, mourning, naked, bearded elderly angel holding a scythe. The impressive angel is being comforted by a young female angel holding an open volume of the Last Judgement. The detailed examination reveals that this unique object commemorates the unification of two kingdoms, Scotland and England. But above all, as it was made 159 years after the tragic beheading of the courageous Catholic Queen of Scotland and Queen Consort of France, it has another more important meaning. Queen Mary I’s last words prior to her beheading, after 19 years of imprisonment, on the order of her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, were “In my end is my beginning”. The iconographic significance of this devotional ciborium is that it contains her final words. This is supported by the engraving of the ouroboros in a circle wrath of the laurel, symbolising her victory. The Scottish Catholic Queen Mary I is the direct ancestor of the current King of Great Britain, Charles III. Her cousin Queen Elizabeth I did not have any children. It is no coincidence that the date on this ciborium coincides with the year of the Scottish defeat at the unequal Battle of Culloden in 1746 that brought an end to the Jacobite aspirations to reinstall a Catholic Stuart King in Scotland. This is the first time in British and continental European art and history that a terrestrial world cup in the form of a ciborium has been documented with such a tragic royal narrative and an iconographically significant message.