Amaze your friends and confound your enemies with this unique set
of silver stirrup cups. Superlatives
abound: these are the only known set of twelve nineteenth century English
stirrup cups; they are the only, pardon the pun, heads of cattle known; and,
unless you’re playing a drinking game, they are the only stirrup cups that you
can use at table—because even though you won’t want to, you can put them down, as shown in the photo
above.

The cups were originally made for John Hungerford Arkwright, a
great-grandson of Sir Richard Arkwright, the famous industrialist and “father
of the factory.” John Hungerford
Arkwright was born at Hampton Court Castle (in Herefordshire—not the Royal one). He attended Eton and Christ Church, Oxford,
before inheriting Hampton Court aged 25.
In the course of a long career in politics, his two passions were
fox-hunting - he was for many years Master of the North Hereford Hunt - and
raising Herefords. Arkwright’s herd was
one of the finest in England, and a huge number of American and Australian
Herefords are descendants. Of the twelve
cups (nine large and three small) nine are engraved with the name of the bull
or cow represented (they are all actual portraits), as well as its prizes at various agricultural fairs around
England.