Primary Description:
Colorless lead glass; blown, diamond-point engraved (scratched and stippled), ground. Large tulip-shaped bowl; diamond-point engraved on one side "THOU HOLDER OF IMMORAL DRINK / I GIVE THEE PURPOSE NOW I THINK," and on the opposite side, a diamond-stippled full-length angel with raised arms, one wing fully detailed with feathers, the other only outlined; bladed collar at the base of the bowl inscribed in diamond point "BLAKE IN ANGUISH FELPHAM AUG 1803"; thick, waisted, solid stem, ground at the base, where it is set into a silvered brass circular foot, the underside filled with plaster and covered with textured black paper. Box: dark green, leather, cardboard, velvet, metal (brass and lead); assembled. Cubical shape, in two hinged parts divided diagonally along opposing sides; heavy cardboard covered on the exterior with dark green leather, with fine gold outlining at the edges; impressed gilt anchor entwined by a dolphin on the top; the front of the lower section with narrow, flat strip, hinged downward, with metal catch; a short, projecting metal fastener on the lower edge of the covering section; the inside of the top lined with dark green textured leather, and with a circular, soft, domed, velvet-covered pad; the bottom lined with velvet-covered cardboard on the sides, a velvet-covered pad of lead strips in the bottom; inset velvet-covered strips on the sides and back, with a velvet-covered cutout sheet on top, to hold the stem of the Rummer.