Bute mazer

The Bute Mazer
The Bute Mazer's later whale bone cover

The Bute Mazer, also known as the Bannatyne Mazer is a medieval communal feasting cup of a type known as a mazer. The wood bowl and the elaborate silver-gilt "boss" in the centre are dated "fairly firmly" to between 1314 and 1327 from the heraldry,[1] with the rim and cover about 1500.[2] It is the oldest Scottish mazer still surviving, and one of the oldest and most elaborate British ones. The cup has long been associated with the Isle of Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. Its alternative name derives from Ninian Bannatyne, Laird of Kames, who owned the cup in the 16th century and had his name engraved on the rim.[3] The mazer is now on loan from the Bannatyne family to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.[4]

  1. ^ Grant, 36
  2. ^ Grant, 38
  3. ^ "Bute or Bannatyne mazer". National Museums Scotland. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010.
  4. ^ Grant, 34