Cup, MGB

The bottom of the cup of a flower-shaped recipient holds a circular medallion with a cast motif of an eight-pointed blossoming cross. The massive handle is decorated with a carved vine and with a globular pellet at the junction with the rim. The cup is exceptional in that there are no analogies in the Serbian medieval heritage, in the superbly executed combination of eastern forms and pottery ornaments of the early Middle Ages, and the skills of Byzantine stonecutters and goldsmiths of 10th – 12th centuries. Such a harmonious blend of archaic forms and decoration known in other materials could have been produced in the 14th century only by a few Byzantine workshops in Constantinople or Thesaloniki, which made precious objects for special purposes. This lavish cup could also be used for wine at the court of the despot Stefan Lazarević himself, during the first quarter of the 15th century.