Gilt and enamelled clear glass known as 'The Luck of Edenhall', Syria, 14th century. Museum no. C.1-1959, Victoria and Albert Museum © 2016 Victoria and Albert Museum

This famous glass, known as the Luck of Edenhall for at least 230 years, is a beaker with flaring rim decorated in gold and coloured enamels.

The Luck of Edenhall is actually a luxury drinking glass decorated with painted enamels and gilding, made in Syria in the middle of  the 14th century. Its early history is untraced, but it may have been brought home by a crusader returning from the Holy Land back to Europe where such a rarity would have been considered the highest form of exotic luxury.

The brilliance of the Luck's colours and its immaculate condition are due to its leather case. Decorated by stamped and cut work, this is thought to have been made specially to contain the Luck in France in the 15th century.

The glass eventually descended into the possession of the Musgrave family, of Edenhall in Cumberland, England, but its real origin was forgotten. It gained a reputation as a fairy cup, left behind by fairies who, it was said, had been disturbed while drinking at St Cuthbert's Well in the Garden of Edenhall. (from The Luck of Edenhall: History & Myths)

The Luck of Edenhall and leather case, gilt and enamelled clear glass, Syria, 14th and 15th Century, (museum no. C.1-1959), Victoria and Albert Museum © 2016 Victoria and Albert Museum