The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-05-20
SINGULAR LITIGATION.
A oIden Cup with a Most Remarkable


A c oIden Cup with a Most Remarkable
History.
Paris Letter in New Orleans Picsyunel
Isn going to tell you about lawsuit
over q cup worth $4,000, although it is no
bigger than, say. good sized cream pitcher.
In the year 1904 Don Juan Fernando de
FIias de Valexo. Duke de Castillo was Span
lsh ambassador to England. While in that
county he negotiated treaty OF peace be.
tween James /. and his own sovereign, and
in recognition of which the former monarch
made him present of a chslice of massive
gold, the hand-work of some artist of the
thirteenth or fourteenth century. Not only
was the material valuable and the work man
ship wonderful, but il was set with precious
stones and ornamented with two remarka.
bly, clear enamels representing the martyr
dom OF st. Agnes. Around the foot was q
Latin inscription reciting the reasons Of the
royal gift. The ambassador was q pio1s
man, and when he got back to Spain he had
the "saint-ciboire" solemnly censecrated by
the Archbishop of Toledo; then he gave it to
the chapel of Santa Clara. in the Convent of
Medina de Pomar, near Burgos. The cut was
accompanied by a deed of gift stating the
conditions on which it was made, and these
were that at no time and under no circum.
stances, even though it were with the con-
sent and approval OF the Pope, should the
communion cup be sod or even loaned. IN.
der the penalty of a right arising, in from
the convent along with lot of other valu-
able presents. Three centuries afterwards,
that is to say, in November, 1888, the Baron
Picho, q well-known French collector of art
curios wrote to the Duke de Frias, a descen-
dant Of the ambassador already named, that
he had purchased in Paris from q Spaniard,
an eDameled saint-ciboire OF the fourteenth
century; that the vender had assured him
that il had once belonged to the family OF
the Duke, aud that as some of his friends
questioned its authenticity he would be
grateful fer any information on the subject
that he might possess. The Duke was aware
OF the existence Of the cup, also that it had
been presented in former times to the nuns
Of Medina de Pomer, but he did not know
anything about the condition on which it
Was head. When the Duke commenced
turning over his family papers for the pur-
pose of finding some document which would
SET st rest the authenticity OF the cup, he
tumbled en- copy OF this old deed of gift,
and, suppoeing that the cup must have been
stolen from the convent, he wrote to the
S1Tsrior about il. Now, as q matter of fact
the convent had sold the cup through the in
termediery OF the Spanisrd, to the French
Baron. and when the Dake's letter reached
me Abbess her first reply was eyasive. She
finally confessed. however, that she had
made the sale through the Intermediary OF
| priest but, though the convent had re.
| ceived the money, she was not aware who
had purchased the cup or where 1t was In
| her last letter on the subject the Abbess
| implored the Duke not to make any ex-
posure of the dbagrseabIe affair, If for no
| other reason, for that OF saving the good
CT sIscter which bad always been enjoved by
The community OF Santa Clara de Medina de
Pomsr, which had been forced to make this
| sale through sn absolutely pressing need of
| money. 1t seems that the convent only got
| 81 ZOOS out OF the ST. 900 which the Baron
| psid for the cup, the rest having been re-
| taintd by he priest as commission. But the
! cDp is today worth $4,000, and that no
doubt IL the reason why the Dake has CON-
| mencsd suit to recover possession of it. The
Baron holds that under all the circum-
stances be has a right to its ownership. aud
| that the Duke and the Mother nun will have
| TO settle the matter as best they can.