These Blantyre Communion cups are old! Dating from either 1613-1615 or 1619-1621, they are over 400 years old, making them one of the oldest surviving hand made items from Blantyre’s history, if not the oldest.
Unfortunately, the practice of dating silver with a punchmark was not around until nearer the end of the 17th Century so it’s difficult to ascertain just how old they are.
Previous historians concluded they could actually be even earlier, though this was not proven.
The silversmith was Gibert Kirkwoode but there is a punchmark of Edinburgh Deacon James Denniston. They’re made of solid silver and being quite plain in appearance, they reflect fashion and tastes of the puritan era. They’re in remarkably fine condition and are actually the second oldest known communion cups in this country! The cups are stored safely away from Blantyre and are only brought out by Blantyre Old Parish Church for very special occasions.
Actually there are TWO sets of cups. I recently found out that Blantyre Old Parish Church was presented with an exact replica of the pair in November 1893. The replicas were commissioned by Dr Moore of Greenhall, shortly before his death that same year. The newspaper articles of that month suggest the cups were dated between 1614 and 1633 and were an exact replica in every way of the older, more valuable cups.