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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Carved Cup
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Carved Cup

Object numberMO 1941.4.9
Name Cup
Maker
Dateca. 1862
Mediumwood, ink
Dimensionsoverall H 6 1/4 in x Diam 3 in (15.9 cm x 7.6 cm )
DescriptionA carved wood cup with an integrated stem and base. The cup has a removable wooden lid topped by a handle carved in the shape of an acorn. An inscription handwritten in ink on the underside of the cup's base reads: This cup was presented to Dr. A. K. Bond by his patient Miss Harriett Littig whose brother Nicholas cut the wood from the one of the U.S. Warships sunk in Hampton Roads by the Virginia.

Adhered to the interior of the cup is a small paper sticker on which is typed: D-28-32.
Label TextThis cup is apparently one of several that were carved from the cabin furniture of a Union vessel sunk in Hampton Roads in 1862 by the Confederate ironclad, CSS VIRGINIA during the American Civil War. The cups were presented to the officers of the sunken ship in appreciation of their noble fight.

The cup was sent to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1937 by Dr. Allen K. Bond of Baltimore, Maryland who had received the cup from a patient, Harriett Littig. Harriett's brother, Nicholas Littig, was one of the officers on the sunken ship and the one who retrieved the wood used for the cups. He, in turn, received one of the carved cups when they were completed.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDeposited at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 20, 1940. It was donated as a bequest of FDR to the Library in 1947.
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesUnited States Navy Materials (National Archives Identifier 782673)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
Collections
Non exposé