The "Luck of Edenhall" is an

enamelled glass Enamelled glass or painted glass is glass which has been decorated with vitreous enamel (powdered glass, usually mixed with a binder) and then fired to fuse the glasses. It can produce brilliant and long-lasting colours, and be translucent or o ...

beaker that was made in Syria or

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

in the middle of the 14th century, elegantly decorated with arabesques in blue, green, red and white enamel with gilding. It is now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London and is 15.8 cm high and 11.1 cm wide at the brim. It had reached Europe by the 15th century, when it was provided with a decorated stiff case in boiled leather with a lid, which includes the Christian IHS; this no doubt helped it to survive over the centuries.V&A The beaker is now known to be an exceptionally fine and pristine example of 14th-century luxury

Islamic glass The influence of the Islamic world to the history of glass is reflected by its distribution around the world, from Europe to China, and from Russia to East Africa. Islamic glass developed a unique expression that was characterized by the introdu ...

. The antiquity of the legend surrounding it has not been determined. A number of rare objects owned by families in the North of England were known as "lucks"; the glass is first documented, and named as the "Luck of Edenhall", in 1677 in the will of Sir Philip Musgrave. Glass drinking vessels very rarely survive—or remain in one family—for long enough to acquire a legendary status, so the successful passing of this vessel through many generations of the Musgrave family of

Edenhall Edenhall is a clustered village in the south-west of the civil parish of Langwathby, 800m to the north in the Eden district, in the county of Cumbria, England. Edenhall has a church called St Cuthbert's Church. The name Edenhall originates f ...

, Cumberland is exceptional. Legend has it that this ancient beaker embodied the continuing prosperity of its owners. Telling the story in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine ...

'' in 1791, Rev. William Mounsey of Bottesford wrote: :''Tradition our only guide here, says, that a party of Fairies were drinking and making merry round a well near the Hall, called St. Cuthbert's Well; but being interrupted by the intrusion of some curious people, they were frightened, and made a hasty retreat, and left the cup in question: one of the last screaming out;'' :::''"If this cup should break or fall'' :::''Farewell the Luck of Edenhall!"'' The glass remained intact in the possession of the Musgrave family. In 1926 the glass was loaned to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and in 1958 it was finally acquired for the nation. It remains on permanent view in the Medieval & Renaissance galleries. Eden Hall no longer exists, having been demolished in 1934.

Cultural references

It was the subject of a German ballad by

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in ...

, later rendered in English by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...

; this wrongly says the glass was shattered:

:As the goblet ringing flies apart :Suddenly cracks the vaulted hall; :And through the rift the wild flames start; :The guests in dust are scattered all, :With the breaking Luck of Edenhall! :In storms the foe with fore and sword; :He in the night had scaled the wall, :Slain by the sword lies the youthful Lord, :But holds in his hand the crystal tall, :The shattered luck of Edenhall.

The legend of the Edenhall Cup is mentioned in the first chapter of Anthony Trollope's novel '' The Small House at Allington'' saying that guests had to drink from the cup regardless of the danger that it might break. The Luck of Eden Hall is a pop/Psych/prog band established in Chicago in 1989, with releases on many record labels including Limited Potential (USA), Fruits de Mer Records (UK), Mega Dodo (UK), Headspin Records (NL), Vincebus Eruptum (IT), and has appeared in magazines including Shindig, Prog, Classic Rock, Goldmine, and AP. The story of the Luck of Edenhall is told in the 2004 manga ''Bartender''. It is also the namesake for the protagonists's bar, Bar Eden Hall.

References

Bibliography

*V&A: * * , pp. 4–
Academia.edu
*Beard, Charles R., ''Luck And Talismans: A Chapter of Popular Superstition'', 2004 reprint, Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN, 1417976489, 9781417976485, Chapter VII gives a full if partly outdated account of the Luck and its legend
google books
Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum English fairy tales Islamic art Arabic art History of glass Glass works of art Langwathby Musgrave family

Cultural references

See also

References

Bibliography