Bute 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.

The six coats of arms on the mazer represent six leading Scottish noble families, including that of Walter Stewart.

Three of the coats of arms on the cup represent signatories of the Declaration of Arbroath, a statement of Scottish independence written in 1320.

In the bottom of the bowl is a metal boss, decorated with a recumbent and grinning couchant lion in high relief, who looks up at the viewer, and is surrounded by six coats of arms.

[7] Assuming the date around 1320 suggested by the heraldry, the mazer is "an ambitious concept constructed by a conservative and ultra cautious craftsman", almost certainly in Scotland.