Aesthetic silver-gilt child's cup

This beautiful Victorian christening cup, with satin gilt finish, is finely hand-engraved in the Aesthetic style. In a distinctly Japanese style, the images feature crane birds and butterflies flying among cherry blossom trees and umbrella papyrus, over an aquatic scene of fishes and lily pads. It is in exceptional condition with no wear to the original gilding, and it has never been engraved with an inscription or initials. The interior bears a bright gold finish.

"Art for art's sake", was a phrase coined by Theophile Gautier in 1835, and became the slogan for the Aesthetic Movement - a movement that set forth to promote the cult of pure beauty in the arts - dream-like & wistful.

Aesthetic silver design focused on decorative surface detail where the shape of pieces was borrowed from an earlier stylistic era, but now covered in a riot of flowers, plants and birds, featuring decorative motifs from Japan; herons, blossom, bamboo, chrysanthemum and butterflies.

An ever-popular christening gift, children's silver mugs have been around for several centuries. Some 18th century boarding schools listed a mug as a mandatory item that a boy should take to school.