The design of the cup is thought to be the work of the fifteen year-old A.W.N. Pugin, who was encountered by John Gawler Bridge, of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, sketching in the British Museum. Pugin was studying prints of the works of Dürer. Bridge was so impressed with his skill that he commissioned several silver designs from the young Pugin - the design for this cup may have been among them. The form of the cup is based on a drawing by Dürer, of c.1500 (now in the British Museum