Arthur MacGregor selects an ostrich egg cup from the Cobbe Collection
Research on the cabinet of curiosities assembled by the Cobbe family at Newbridge House (Co Dublin) from about 1750 to 1850 has brought to light a variety of natural and man-made rarities that reflect the encyclopaedic interests typical of collections of this type. One item that perfectly encapsulates this breadth of interest is an ostrich egg cup that calls to mind the range of similar vessels – gold-mounted nautilus shells, rhinoceros horns, giant nuts as well as ostrich eggs – that typified princely cabinets of 16th and 17th-century Europe; although more modest than these, the specimen in the Cobbe collection has remarkable characteristics all of its own, not the least of which is revealed by an inscription engraved around its circumference in bold gilt capitals: ‘LAID AT DUNDALK 1756’.
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