the cup in an uncleaned state. The cup was included in Warren's book A defence of Uranian Love, first published in 1928 under his pseudonym of Arthur Lyon Raile. On Warren's death in 1928, the cup became part of the inheritance for Asa Thomas, Warren's secretary and eventual business partner. It was part of the auction of the contents of Lewes House. in 1929, but failed to sell and stayed hidden away in the Thomas' attic. The cup was sent for cleaning after the Lewes House auction and photographs taken of the cup in 1931 show that it had been cleaned before that year. In November 1952 Harold W. Parsons, an art historian and one of Warren's past companions, took responsibility for selling the cup and approached the New York collector Walter Baker, however Baker was hesitant to proceed. In February 1953 it was posted by Thomas to Walter Baker, however US Customs impounded the box requiring a decision from Washington as to whether to admit it or to prohibit it as pornography. It was refused entry to the US on that basis and it took until October 1954 to be returned to the UK, by which time Thomas had died. After that event, a number of museums declined to buy it. Thomas's widow sold the cup to the dealer John K. Hewett. Hewett offered the cup to Denys Haynes, Keeper of the Greek and Roman Department at the British Museum who then sought an opinion from his friend Lord Crawford, a Trustee of the Museum. However, the decision went no further as they thought that they would never persuade the Museum's Trustees who were chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1966 the Cup was offered for sale at £6,000 and bought by a private collector abroad. In 1998 it was removed from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sold to a British private collector. The cup was then acquired by its present owner, the British Museum, in 1999 for £1.8 million, with funds provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, National Art Collections Fund and The British Museum Friends, to prevent its going abroad again. This was, at that time, the most expensive single item ever acquired by the British Museum, and many times the price at which it had been offered to them in the 1950s. Dating and authenticity John R. Clarke, Professor in Fine Arts at the