Welcome cup

Many guilds and societies of the period owned a modest collection of silver, partly to display at formal occasions, and partly as a financial investment.

This cup of 1717 is identified by an inscription as the Wilkomm, or welcome cup, of the Hanover Brotherhood. This primarily financial association, founded in 1616, provided free funerals for its members and their families.

The inscriptions on the cup and on the pendant shields all refer in some way to death. Unsurprisingly new members had to be under 40, in good health and of 'blameless character'. Paupers and soldiers were excluded.