It has been suggested that the Cuddesdon cemetery from which it comes is one of a group of princely graves of the late 6th and early 7th centuries, of which the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial is the most important. Dark blue glass seems to have been particularly prevalent at this period.

Provenance

Excavated near the Bishop's House, Cuddlestone, Oxfordshire, 1847; Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford; Ward-Boughton-Leigh; by descent to A.H.C. Ward-Boughton-Leigh, sold Christie's, 1977.