Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-22
A VALUABLE CUP.
A French Lawsuit Over an Old Relic
Worth $4,000.

A French Lawsuit Over an Old Relic
Worth $4,000.
1 am going to tell you, says the Paris
correspondent of the New Orleans Plea
gune about law suit over a cup worth
$4,000, although tits no bigger than, say,
good-sized cream pitcher. In the year
1904 Don Juan Fernando de Frlas de Va
lexO, Duke de Castillo, was Spanish Am
bassador to England. While in that
country he negotiated a treaty of peace
between James l. and his own sovereign,
and in recognition of which the former
monarch made him present of chalice
Of massive gold, the handiwork of some
artist of the thirteenth or fourteenth cen
fury. Not only was the material valu-
able and the workmanship wonderful,
but il was set with precious stones
and ornamented with two remarkably
clear enamels representing the martyr
dom of st. Agnes. Around the foot was
Latin inscription reclting the reasons
Of the royal gift. The Ambassador was
pIous man, and when he got back to
Spain he had the "Saint Ciboire" solemn
ly consecrated by the Archbishop of To-
ledo; then he gave il to the Chapel of
Santa Clara, in the Convent of Medina de
POmar, near Burgos. The cup was ac-
companied by a deed of gift stating the
conditions on which it was made, and
these were, that at no time and under
no circumstances, even though it were
with the consent and approval Of the
Pope, should this communion cup
be sold or even loaned, under the penalty
of right arising, in that case 70 his heirs
to reclaim it from the convent along with
a lot OF other valuable presents. Three
panffTrioc aftarUnpJc fbaf 10 70 in No
Vember, 1888, the Baron PichO, a we'll
known French collector of art curlos,
wrote TO the Duke de Frias, a descendant
of the Ambassador already named. that
he had purchased in Paris, from a Span
lard, an enameled saint ciboire Of the
fourteenth century, that the vendor had
assured him that it had once belonged
to the family of the Duke, and that as
some of his friends questioned its
authenticity the would be grateful for
any information on the subject that he
might possess. The Duke was aware OF
the existence Of the cup, also that 1t had
been presented in former times TO the
nuns of Medina de POmar, bat he did not
know anything about the conditions on
which 1t was held. When the Duke COM
menced turning over his family papers
for the purpose Of finding some dOcu-
ment which would set at rest the au-
tnentcity OF the cup, ne tlmbled on
copy Of this old deed Of gilt, and, sup
posing that the cup must have been
stolen from the convent, he wrote to the
superior about IL. Now, as matter Of
fact. the convent had sold the cup.
through the Intermediary OF the Span
lard, 10 the French Baron, and when the
Dukes letter reached the abbess her first
reply was eyasive. She finally confessed,
however. that she had made the sale
through the Intermediary Of a priest, but,
though the convent had received the
money, she was not aware who had
purchased the cup, or where IL was.
In her last letter on the subject
the abbess implored the Duke not TO
make any exposure Of the disagreeable
affair, II for no other reason, for that
OF saving the good character which
had always been enjoyed by the cOmmu.
nifty Of Santa Clara de Medina de POmar,
which had been forced TO make
this sale through an absolutely pressing
need OF money. IL seems that the con-
vent only got 81 900 out OF the 81 800
which the Baron paid for the cup, the
rest having been retained by the priest as
commission. But the cup Is to-day worth
$4,000 and that, no doubt, is the reason
why the Duke has commenced suit 10 re-
cover possession OF IL. The Baron holds
that under all the circumstances be has a
right 70 its ownership, and that the Duke
and the mother nun will have TO settle the
matter as best they can.