The arms are those of Cole impaling those of Byron, as borne by Sir Arthur Cole who was born about 1669. He was attainted by James II on his accession but then restored by William III in 1688. He succeeded his father about 1691 and sat as M.P. for Enniskillen 1692-1693 and for Roscommon 1695-1699. In 1715 he was created Baron Ranelagh. He married in 1692 Catherine, daughter of William, Lord Byron. She died in 1746 and two years later he married Selina, daughter of Peter Bathurst, a lady some 52 years his junior. After Lord Ranelagh's death in 1754 his widow married Sir John Elwell, prompting Lady Mary Wortley Montagu to write: "I confess it must be a very bitter draft to submit to take his [Lord Ranelagh's] name, but his lady has had a short purgatory, and now enjoys affluence with a man she likes, and who I am told is a man of merit ..." (Letters and Works, 1887 ed., vol. II, p. 345)

Similar swirling cut-card work appears on a pair of two-handled cups bearing Nelme's mark and transposed Charles II marks sold by Sotheby's, New York, October 31, 1991, lot 393.