It also featured in Gentleman's Magazine in 1791, in an article written by W.M. - almost certainly Sir William Musgrave of Edenhall- and was equally celebrated in a ballad by Johan Ludwig Uhland. It was probably made in Aleppo, Syria, in the mid-fourteenth century and possibly brought back from the crusades. Its case of leatherwork is probably from the Narbonne region and may justify its perfect condition. A sacred monogram on the case suggests that the glass may have only served as a chalice. This is evidence that the 'Luck' was in the possession of the Musgrave family at a very early date; it unquestionably possesses one of the longest pedigrees of any glass object in an English collection.

Provenance

Musgrave family, Eden Hall, near Penrith. On loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum from Sir Nigel Courtenay Musgrave from 1926 to its acquisition.