The Theocritus Cup

Silver gilt, 1811-1812, made by Paul Storr, designed by John Flaxman. The Theocritus Cup was presented to Alderman Thomas Earle, a Liverpool slave-trader and merchant who served as the city's mayor in 1787. It was made by Paul Storr, an outstanding silversmith, to the design of John Flaxman. Flaxman was renowned throughout Europe for his neo-classical sculptures and illustrations to classical and renaissance poetry. The description of a pottery cup in the first Idyll of Theocritus, a Greek pastoral poet, inspired the design of this piece.