Marcus Watkinson
This is a silver gilt communion cup and paten cover. It was made in 1575 for Holy Trinity Church by John Jones, one of the wealthiest and most prominent goldsmiths in early modern Exeter. Although only about 2,000 communion cups from this period have survived, more than a hundred of them were made by Jones. While the cup itself was used to serve the consecrated wine, the paten would probably have held the bread during the Christian celebration of Holy Communion. Significantly, Protestantism had rejected the Roman Catholic belief in ‘transubstantiation’, which posits that the bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the body and blood of Christ during the service. Protestants’ subsequent emphasis on a simpler, more direct form of worship meant that the detailing on a cup at this time could be expected to be much less elaborate and grandiose. Interestingly, the paten is slightly bent out of shape, possibly a reflection of significant use within the church. Communion cups such as this offer an invaluable insight into the religious cultures, practices and beliefs of the period. Importantly, they also reveal the role and place of the church as an economic force as well as the contribution made by the goldsmiths’ industry in a localised religious and social context.
