The memorial section of the museum is rich with high-taste items. A very interesting double-sided cup has an exceptional beauty. It is a sculpture of a woman with a beautiful haircut, delicate waist, arms raised, luxurious dress with floral ornaments stamped on it (height 13 cm, diameter of the base - 5 cm, diameter of the upper cup - 3 cm). It is made of light and dark bronze. The underside is bell-shaped, which is a women's skirt, hollow, two-layered. The inner layer is made of golden bronze. It is a movable, rotating shaft-mounted strap – attached to the raised arms – also in two layers, the inner layer made of gold-bronze.
As a result of searches, we found out the story of the creation of the cup.
Nuremberg Wedding Cup, or the Bride Cup (German: Brautbecher), belongs to the German Renaissance. It is a symbol of love and loyalty. At the wedding, the newlyweds drink from that cup together: the groom drinks from the big one, and the bride drinks from the small one. There is a very beautiful legend about the creation of this item. In ancient Nuremberg lived a noble girl named Kunigunda, who fell in love with a young jeweler Dieter. But the girl's father was against their marriage. Being a very rich and authoritative man, he imprisoned the boy on false accusations. But even years later, Kunigunda continued to love her chosen one. She was crying incessantly, her beauty was fading day by day. The father, not being able to bear the grief of his only daughter anymore, offered his condition to the jeweler: to create a cup that two people can drink together. Inspired by the hope of joining his beloved girl, the young man quickly created the wonderful cup - a two-sided cup in the form of his beloved one. The whole city attended Dieter and Kunigunda's wedding, and at the end of the wedding ceremony they drank wine at the same time. Since that day this beautiful tradition was born in Nuremberg.
However, according to Toumanians, Hovhannes Toumanian used that cup while performing his duties as a toastmaster.
Toumanian was the central figure of meetings and gatherings, and an irreplaceable toastmaster during feasts. His speech was as engaging and beautiful as his writings. He used to sit at the table and raise a glass with a special bright smile in honor of this or that guest. His toasts were spiced with wise words, funny stories and sarcasm. It is not in vain that his friends awarded Toumanian the title of "All Armenian Toastmaster". "... Dad's party was a business," the poet's daughter Nvard recalled in her memoirs. Toumanian himself confessed that communicating with people means creating for him.
One of those "creations" was the famous toast in honor of Commander Andranik during a party, which is vividly described in the memoirs of Vahan Totovents. Twenty years ago, there were two famous things - Khrimyan Hayrik and my "The Dog and The Cat". Twenty years have passed, but there are two other notable things - my "The Dog and The Cat" and Andranik. I drink for one of the two prominents – Andranik "... Andranik answered with a smile. "Years will pass, neither I nor Toumanian will be alive, but there will be something remarkable -" The Dog and the Cat ", let's drink its toast ..."
Totovents continues: "Toumanian laughed so much that he spilled the wine on his hand, he reached out, took the wine bottle, drew a semicircle with a wide diameter in the air, filled the glass and drank it. Toumanian drank wine with epic solemnity. For him, taking a glass of wine to his mouth was a ritual, a sacred ritual. He used to put the cup down when he started speaking only when both hands were needed to emphasize the speech. Wine was for him a Homeric drink with an epic content related to it.”
In 1966-1989 the director of the Toumanian Museum was the poet's youngest daughter Tamar. According to her, the cup was dedicated to one of the family's close friends, Honored Architect of Armenia Varazdat Harutyunyan, who was born in Van.
In 1915, little Varazdat's family, embarking on a cruel migration route, reached Etchmiadzin and then Tiflis. He spent his childhood in the orphanage of the Tiflis Charity Society, which was located in the yard of the church Tsiranavor. Among many Armenian orphans, he felt the care and warmth of "Father of Orphans" Toumanian. "The only bright and memorable episodes of the years spent in the orphanage were the meetings with Hovhannes Toumanian," Harutyunyan later recalled. Gratitude and love to Toumanian and his family was stayed with the famous architect throughout his life. Their meetings continued at the poet's Yerevan Museum. Permanent toastmaster of family parties organized here was V. Harutyunyan after H. Kochar. His words and songs were the main part of those gatherings.
Years later, Varazdat Harutyunyan returned the glass to Tamar Toumanian, considering that it should be kept in the museum.
1976 On May 26, the cup became a part of the rich collection of personal belongings of Toumanian Museum, with the act N173, index: TTGG 755 / WB 785.