Every few years, Brasenose College puts on display its silver collection, which is normally largely kept under lock and key. This event we dramatically label the “Silver Muster”. The latest muster took place in our Dining Hall in early January. It was an opportunity for members of the Brasenose community to view this fabulous collection of silver and other precious items.
Having existed as an educational institution for five centuries , the silver collection forms part of Brasenose’s cultural heritage. Originally, silver formed a store of value at a time when wealth was held mainly in the form of bullion bars or land rather than money held in bank accounts or stocks and shares. Much of the College’s first silver collection was surrendered to Charles I in 1642 and melted down for coin when the King was in chronic need of funds to continue fighting the Civil War. Only two chalices dated 1498-1499 survive from the original collection.
The rest of the College cache, collected mainly during the 17th, 18th and C19 centuries, consists predominantly of tableware, including practical pieces for eating (cutlery, tankards, candlesticks) and more ornate, decorative pieces. Many of the latter were gifted to the College over several centuries by former students wishing to mark their time at Brasenose. Often particular sports teams would club together to present a special commemorative tankard to the College with their names embossed.
Some of the more fascinating items illustrate how Brasenose and society as a whole has changed. Several large silver cigarette and cigar boxes are found in our collection, which, in a practice now long gone, were passed among diners during ‘dessert’ on formal occasions. Afterwards the remaining contents were often distributed among College staff. Smoking is now prohibited throughout Brasenose, with the exception of a designated smokers’ area. As another illustration, our cutlery collection includes some highly specialised utensils, such as silver lobster picks – a dish that now rarely appears on the menus we offer to our students today!
More decorative items include a tankard recording for posterity the names of individuals who were members of Brasenose in 1734. There is also a replica of the FA Cup, a competition won by Oxford University in 1874. To mark the centenary of this highly vaunted football tournament, the Football Association sent out replicas of the trophy to all previous winners in the 1970s, and the University’s came into the possession of the College. This may be because the magnificently named Cuthbert Ottaway, former Brasenose student, appeared in at least two finals in the 1870s, including captaining of the victorious side that beat Royal Engineers two nil at the Kennington Oval.
A particularly beautiful piece in the collection is a silver-gilt Russian Kovsh (beaker), which was given to the College in 1932. A Kovsh was usually placed in the middle of a dining table with mead or wine. The contents would have been ladled out and handed to guests. This particular Kovsh was presented by the Empress Catherine II to Nicephore Mitriassoff, Ataman of the Zimovaia Stanitza of the Eitzsky Cossack Army for faithful services, at St. Petersburg, in 1767, and bears and inscription to that effect. Another unusual piece is ‘the Brasenose Beaker’, designed by a student and made by the sculptor Frank Bowcher. It consists of four heads, which represent Silenus and Jupiter in a sociable mood, and are divided by swags of hops. The arms of the College and of the University are worked into the border of hops and laurels.
The College continues to receive occasional gifts of silver. When asked to nominate her favourite piece, staff member Alice McCormack held aloft a beautiful pepper mill, donated a few decades ago to mark the 25th anniversary of the college’s first admission of women undergraduates.
Apart from special dinners and at the muster itself, silver is no longer seen routinely at student meals in the College. Instead we concentrate on providing affordable and delicious food, and a relaxing ambience in our Dining Hall and café, for students to enjoy.
Content by Brasenose News Staff Writers with grateful assistance from the College Archivist, and other staff members