LOS ANGELES – George Washington’s silver camp cups that he used while Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War will be auctioned on July 29.

The cups were part of an original set of 12 used by Washington beginning in 1777 to hold wine served at the General’s table, privy to the intimate conversations between Washington and his aides and guests during the course of the War.

The underside of each cup shows the maker’s mark of Philadelphia silversmith Edmund Milne, who made the cups for Washington according to a bill dated August 20, 1777. Each cup features the initial ”W” on the front, with a later engraving on verso reading, ”Camp Cup owned and used by General Washington during War of the Revolution.”

Apart from a larger set of cups ordered by Washington in 1780, this is the only silver set known to be owned by Washington during the Revolutionary War and thus is scarce. The 10 cups that complete this set reside in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

Each cup measures 3 1/4in tall by 2 1/4in in diameter at the bottom and 2 3/4in at the top. They were previously sold at a 1977 Sotheby’s Parke Bernet auction. Bidding on the cups begins at $40,000, but they carry no formal published estimate.

The sale is being conducted by Nate D Sanders Auctions, Los Angeles.

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