Spilled Wine, Spilled Blood: Spilling the Secrets of the Covered Cup from the Chungul Kurgan

Abstract

Abstract The covered cup, discovered in 1981 during the salvage excavation of a burial mound in southern Ukraine, is an impressive example of secular metalwork from around 1200. The cup’s interior contains a cast silver-gilt lion and a hitherto undetected siphon mechanism, making it one of the first preserved automata from Europe and the earliest known Western medieval example of this type of trick vessel. The cup from the Chungul Kurgan helps to clarify the probable operation of the chantepleure illustrated in the sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt and sheds light on possible other medieval automata. The cup’s presence in the same burial with other works from the same approximate date and region suggests historical circumstances that might have resulted in its burial with a nomadic leader in the steppe.