The English Catholics enjoyed increasing freedom under Archbishop Laud. This chalice is a rare example of a typically Catholic chalice commissioned by recusants which should be compared with the stark simplicity of the typical Communion Cup introduced into English parishes under Archbishop Parker during the reign of Elizabeth I. As Ellenor Morris Alcorn comments, "Recuasnt chalices of the 17th century are generally designed to be dismantled into three pieces, and it has been assumed that this was to enable the itinerant priest to discreetly store them away from agents seeking to accuse and fine Papists. For the same reasons, recusant plate is rarely hallmarked or inscribed with an owner's arms or name; thus, dating of these stylistically conservative objects is difficult" (English Silver in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1993, vol. I, p. 116).

The present chalice belongs to a group identified by Charles Oman which includes three examples from Ampleforth Abbey, Yorkshire (now in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin), one of which is signed W.R. and hallmarked prior to 1633, and another from Danby Hall, Middleham, Yorkshire, datable to 1630-1640. Writing about the present chalice, Konstanty Kalinowski writes, "What distinguishes the group of 17th century English Catholic chalices is that they combine the Arma Christi with a representation, based o Flemish prints, of the Crucifixion itself, against the background of Jerusalem. Such a combination is also encountered on one of the three Ampleforth Abbey chalices, and on a chalice from the Bar Convent in York" (Grabski, op.cit., p. 328).