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Small chalice with an inlaid inscription.

Small chalice with an inlaid inscription.

Inv. #
М-25 ЛБС-184
Dimensions
⌀ 14.00 cm
Materials

Description

The chalice is hemispherical in form, with a combined texture: its lower part is made of silver-toned metal, its upper part of gold-toned metal, underscored by a double "band." On the upper part of the chalice is a depiction of a cross within a double circle decorated with a floral ornament. The cross is a straight, four-armed cross; above it are the letters "INRI" ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"); above its side arms, "IC XC" ("Jesus Christ"); beneath its side arms, "NIKA" and "K" and "T"; to its left and right are the instruments of the Passion — a spear and a reed. Around the depiction of the cross is the Church Slavonic inscription: "This cup was made at the expense of Oleksii Bolzhsky, a Cossack of the Popovychesky kurin of the Zaporozhian Host, former otaman, for the Samara Monastery, to be assigned to the Church of Saint Nicholas of Christ of Kyiv-Mezhyhiria, on the 3rd day of the month of September, in the year 1771."

The cup was made in September 1771. The object belonged to the pre-war (pre-1941) part of the collection of the Historical Museum. It was evacuated in 1941, and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.