Four Communion mugs
John Sutton
- Art Funded
- 2005
- Dimensions
- Heights: 1) 10.1 cm; 2) 9.9 cm; 3) 9.8 cm; 4) 9.7 cm
- Vendor
- J H Bourdon-Smith Ltd
The Communion mugs were given to the Gloucester Independent Meeting by its founding minister James Forbes who was an influential dissenter ejected from Gloucester Cathedral at the Restoration.
The vessels are examples of the early non-conformist practice of eschewing the designs of the established church. However, the choice of mugs for communion is unusual as the Congregationalists favoured wine goblets, beakers or double-handled cups.
Provenance
James Forbes and the Trustees of the Gloucester Independent Meeting, 1710; Congregational Church, 1715; Christie's, 1923; William Bruford & Son, Exeter, 1923; Southgate Congregatinal Church, 1923; HM Simmons, Cheltenham, 1928; Pearson family, Parham