VESSELS, AND API'LIANCES OE SACRED USE. 131

the stoup or flagon of recent times ; being ill suited, on accoinit of their large dimensions, for the purpose of adminis- tration. A large chalice with two handles, Avhich could not easily be raised by a man, was preserved in the treasury of Mayence cathedral ". The fashion of the chalice in primitive ages, was, probably, of the most simple kind. The silver chalice formerly exhibited to pilgrims at Jerusalem as the cup used by om- Saviour at the last supper, was formed, as described by Bede, with two handles'*; and although the auticpiity of the tradition may be questionable, it is not improbable that in many instances the shape of the calicV ansatus niiiy have been assimilated to sucli a revered model. In later times a plain cup was used, somewhat more elevated in its proportions, fashioned with a knop, ov jjomellam, beneath the bowl, whereby it might be securely held ; and it was occasionally inscribed or marked by some appropriate symbol^. Subsequently, the bowl was made of smaller pro- portions, the administration of the wine to the laity being for- bidden ; and, as a precaution against the risk of its being overturned, the foot was made very wide, with indentations, intended, according to De Vert, to keep the chalice steady, when it was laid to drain on the paten, after celebration, in accordance with an ancient usage •". The knop and foot were decorated in the most sumptuous manner, the bowl being usually quite plain ; nielli, enamels, gems, and other precious objects were incrusted amongst the elaborately chased or graven ornaments of the lower parts of the chalice. The apprehension that some portion of the sacred element might accidentally be spilled during administration, had pre-

• ^ It may be doubtful whether the antique of the abbey of Verden, A.D. 796, was there

vase of oriental agate, given to St. Denis preserved, and the Benedictines have given by Charles III., was ever used as a chalice, a representation of it. An inscription ran the ornaments sculptured w it being of round both the edge of the bowl and the a profane character, but the famous chalice foot. Voyage Litt. ii. 234'. Of somewhat si- of the Abbot Suger, formed of the same niilar form is the silver cup discovered at St. material, as likewise one of crystal, attri- Austell, in Cornwall, with objects of Saxon buted to St. Denis himself, had handles. date, and a coin of Burghred, king of Mer- Felibien, plates iii. vi., p. iiW. There wure cia, dethroned A.D. 874. It was subse- curious chalices with handles at St. Jo-.se quently used as a communion cup in a sur Mer, near Montreuil, and in other neighbouring parish church. Archceol. i.x. churches in France, noticed by De Vert, pi. viii., and xi. pi. vii. Cerem. de L'Egl. iv. 162. ' The chalice was formerly laid on its Beda, de locis Sanctis, c. 2. Adamna- side also at the commencement of the mass, nus de locis sacris, lib. i. Baron. An. 34. See M. Didron's interesting dissertation on .Viuither clialice, formcil of agate, supposed the tapestry at Montpezat, representing to have been used by the Saviour, was pre- the mass of St. Martin. Annales Archaeol., srrvcd at A'alcntia, in Spain. iii. 108. "^ Thi' chalice of St. Ludgorius, fountU'v