17th Century cup awarded to Plymouth MP goes up for sale at Bonhams

A Charles II silver-gilt state cup and stand presented to John Sparke, MP for Plymouth from 1677-1680, is for sale at Bonhams Fine Silver Sale in New Bond Street on 13 November. Its value is estimated at £40,000-50,000.

John Sparke (1636-80) belonged to a prominent Plymouth family. He was the eldest son of Jonathan Sparke and married in 1663 Mary, daughter of Sir Alexander Carew, Bt. The family was politically active. His grandfather, also John, had been mayor of Plymouth in 1583 and 1591 and he himself was MP for the borough from 1677 until his death.

The cup and stand, pricked with his family arms and those of the city, was presented to him by the corporation and is recorded in the council minutes for 1679/80 as follows: '£37 10s paid for a "large silver salver Cawdle Cupp and cover embost and thick washed with gold" weighing 75 ounces, given to John Spark one of the burgesses, "in token of the Respect and Gratitude of this Town for his faithfull and diligent service."'

The cup and stand seem to have passed out of the Sparke family in 1714 via a bequest to a godson, John Molesworth of Pencarrow in Cornwall. It then descended through 12 generations of Molesworths until Sir Arscott Molesworth the 15th baronet sold it in 1994.

The engraving on both the cup and the stand is particularly interesting as it appears to be a sophisticated and built up version of prick-dot engraving which can be seen mainly on West Country silver.