Travelling communion set chalice

Foot of a chalice from a portable communion set. The set consists of four parts. The wood and embossed-leather travelling box contains two compartments, one for the silver-gilt chalice and paten, and the other for a glass bottle that originally held consecrated wine. For convenience, the bowl and foot of the chalice unscrew. The foot is inscribed with the sacred monogram JH (of which the 'S' is missing) and bears London marks, the date letter R for 1534-5 and a hanap (cup) maker's mark. The paten bears a later and cruder version of the sacred monogram but is otherwise unmarked. Sets of this sort were used by the priest to administer last rites to the sick and dying. Little church plate of the Reformation period exists, and the set is important because it was made and used at the time when Henry VIII had broken with Rome but still adhered, with his own modifications, to the medieval doctrine of the sacraments. In 1534 the King declared England to be independent of all external authority and so the Crown became supreme head of the Church of England.