Holy Grail - "That's the cup of a carpenter"

[awol007]

I like to make props that are more centered to the story of the prop and not exact an exact replica. So, I present my Holy Grail from the Last Crusade. I've always thought it was odd that the Grail had gold on it. But it definitely looks cool. But I would assume a carpenter cup would be wood. So I turned mine and it's wood. I added the leaf inside the cup itself but left the outside wood without any leaf added. It's stained with a light red barn stain (I made it lighter than the factory red.) There is red in the wood already so it's a lighter tone to not over saturate the wood and keep the natural textures. I've seen a lot of 3D printed ones and ceramic ones and a lot of those look awesome. Apparently the originals were resin. But anyway, here is my take. Made of a wood as I would assume a carpenter would make or have.

Process shots:


Finished Product:


And there is my take for my DragonCon Dr. Henry Jones costume. I'll probably turn/make a few of these to pass out there. Have a good one.

 

[kevin926]

Well done. Looks great

 

[Moviefreak]

I like to make props that are more centered to the story of the prop and not exact an exact replica. So, I present my Holy Grail from the Last Crusade. I've always thought it was odd that the Grail had gold on it. But it definitely looks cool. But I would assume a carpenter cup would be wood. So I turned mine and it's wood. I added the leaf inside the cup itself but left the outside wood without any leaf added. It's stained with a light red barn stain (I made it lighter than the factory red.) There is red in the wood already so it's a lighter tone to not over saturate the wood and keep the natural textures. I've seen a lot of 3D printed ones and ceramic ones and a lot of those look awesome. Apparently the originals were resin. But anyway, here is my take. Made of a wood as I would assume a carpenter would make or have.

Process shots:
View attachment 1731610View attachment 1731611View attachment 1731612

Finished Product:
View attachment 1731616View attachment 1731617View attachment 1731618View attachment 1731613View attachment 1731615View attachment 1731614

And there is my take for my DragonCon Dr. Henry Jones costume. I'll probably turn/make a few of these to pass out there. Have a good one.

Looks great, but I keep seeing this debate about “the cup of a carpenter”. I don’t think they were implying that “the cup of a carpenter” meant it was “made” by a carpenter. It meant a carpenter wasn’t a rich man, and wouldn’t own one of those solid gold chalices. He would have used what he could afford, and what he could afford would have a been a pottery cup. That is why Indy looked for the simplest cup in the line-up. And as far as the gold leafing, it was a decorative element to allow people buying a cheaper made cup, to still have a little feeling of elegance.

 

[kevin926]

I enjoy seeing all mediums used for making props. Best part of our hobby is seeing different takes

 

[awol007]

Looks great, but I keep seeing this debate about “the cup of a carpenter”. I don’t think they were implying that “the cup of a carpenter” meant it was “made” by a carpenter. It meant a carpenter wasn’t a rich man, and wouldn’t own one of those solid gold chalices. He would have used what he could afford, and what he could afford would have a been a pottery cup. That is why Indy looked for the simplest cup in the line-up. And as far as the gold leafing, it was a decorative element to allow people buying a cheaper made cup, to still have a little feeling of elegance.

Solid point. I thought about this too. He probably wouldn't have been drinking out of a cup he made.

So, after I wrote my post I did a little digging. The most common materials used for cups during the new testament era were: clay, wood, horn and "earthenware". Earthenware refers to "fired clay vessels, which could include both more common utilitarian cups and more decorative ones." Clay cups seem to be the most common during the era, but it's noted that they were obviously easy to break. Wood cups were also common and beeswax seems to be the substance used to seal them. There were metal cups of course, but it's noted that they were mostly used by the wealthy. So it seems either clay or wood would be the most likely candidate.

 

[Astyanax]

Truly beautiful! Myself, I really love idealized props even over accurate ones (it's why I don't like "GRAFLEX" stamped on a lightsaber). I feel the idealizing really immerses me into the universe even more.

 

[Dr Jones Sr]

I like to make props that are more centered to the story of the prop and not exact an exact replica. I would assume a carpenter cup would be wood.

To me that scene in Last Crusade doesn't make sense. Indiana wouldn't have known better because he's not a religious guy. But his Dad is a religious guy, and would have known that the cup used at the Last Supper almost certainly wasn't one that *****' party had carried around on their travels. It's specifically stated that a large upper room was "furnished and prepared" for the meal, obviously by a family with the means to have a large upper room and to furnish it for a good-sized group.

So, knowledge of the sort of table furnishings a reasonably wealthy family would provide for honoured guests at that time and place would have been the key to choosing wisely.

So I turned mine and it's wood. I added the leaf inside the cup itself but left the outside wood without any leaf added. It's stained with a light red barn stain (I made it lighter than the factory red.) There is red in the wood already so it's a lighter tone to not over saturate the wood and keep the natural textures. I've seen a lot of 3D printed ones and ceramic ones and a lot of those look awesome. Apparently the originals were resin.

That wooden Grail is beautiful!

About the one seen onscreen, I think the concept is that the cup is ceramic pottery left the natural terracotta colour of the clay. You can see "lift lines" which are a byproduct of the cup being lifted on the potter's wheel.

They probably cast copies of the ceramic original and/or made wood copies for the shots where the Grail is getting thrown around. Ceramic would be too heavy and might break. "Lift lines" could have been turned into a wood copy, as a lathe and potter's wheel rotate the cup the same way.

 

[Lightning]

To me that scene in Last Crusade doesn't make sense. Indiana wouldn't have known better because he's not a religious guy. But his Dad is a religious guy, and would have known that the cup used at the Last Supper almost certainly wasn't one that *****' party had carried around on their travels. It's specifically stated that a large upper room was "furnished and prepared" for the meal, obviously by a family with the means to have a large upper room and to furnish it for a good-sized group.

So, knowledge of the sort of table furnishings a reasonably wealthy family would provide for honoured guests at that time and place would have been the key to choosing wisely

Well, we expect Indy to be knowledgeable about that as well. And they don't have much time to go through the thought process. When the cup was new it was covered on the outside with gold leaf as well, so it would have looked much nicer in the "restaurant". No one is giving an unemployed carpenter a solid gold cup in that situation anyway. But the real clue isn't mentioned in the movie, its the only one that has been used regularly for the last 800 years, no wonder all the exterior gold leaf is worn off.

 

[Astyanax]

Well, we expect Indy to be knowledgeable about that as well. And they don't have much time to go through the thought process. When the cup was new it was covered on the outside with gold leaf as well, so it would have looked much nicer in the "restaurant". No one is giving an unemployed carpenter a solid gold cup in that situation anyway. But the real clue isn't mentioned in the movie, its the only one that has been used regularly for the last 800 years, no wonder all the exterior gold leaf is worn off.

Indeed. If you recall from the Young Indiana Jones Adventures, there were entire sequences where Henry Sr. was educating young Indy. And he taught him Greek. Plus, Indy can read Latin off the tablet. It stands to reason Indy would know his Bible stories.

 

[eethan]

Beautiful job! I love idealized materials and you did a great job