Prince Ferdinand-Victor-Albert-Meinrad was born at Sigmaringen Castle on August 12/24, 1865. The middle son of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern (1835-1905) and his wife, Princess Antonia of Braganza (1845-1913), he would become the second king of Romania, the one who ruled the destinies of his adopted country from 1914 to 1927, trying throughout his entire existence to prove himself to be a "good Romanian".
His baptism took place at his parental castle, Sigmaringen, in the presence of his family and godparents, Princess Victoria (1840–1901) and Prince Frederik (1831–1888), the future Kaiser Frederik III (9 March – 15 June 1888). The godmother was herself the daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Empress of the Indies.
On the occasion of the event, Princess Victoria specially commissioned the baptismal cup, a piece of exceptional artistic value and symbolic significance, from her home country. The cup is a creation of the famous goldsmith, Richard Hennell, from London.
Hennell worked in London workshops starting in the second half of the 19th century, his creative work ending around 1880.
The beauty of the pieces created by Richard Hennell derives from his favorite working technique, hammering, combined with the ornamentation of objects in light relief, with floral-vegetable motifs, flower bouquets, zoomorphic motifs included in ovoid medallions, combined with the pearl motif, apparently the English goldsmith's favorite decorative motif. Hennell combined in his pieces, with great aesthetic sense, the applied decoration, trying to give them originality through the symbolism of the motifs used, incorporating in his creations other materials such as baga, ivory, exotic wood. Among the objects made by Richard Hennell are cups, platters, decorative mugs, coffee services, tea services, goblets.
The baptismal cup, with a height of 28.5 cm and a diameter of 31 cm, weighs 2220 g. The circular base is decorated in mezzorelief with medallions with alternating fruit and flower bouquets, a symbol of spiritual perfection, harmony and purity. The urn-shaped foot is based on a circular inscription in German, written in Gothic characters, recalling the recipient, the issuer and the date "Ferdinand Victor Albert Prinz von Hohenzollern von Seiner Pathin Victoria August 1865" (Ferdinand Victor Albert Prince of Hohenzollern. From his godmother, Victoria. August 1865"). The body of the vessel is decorated with an applied motif, oblique rods, connecting two buttons with two griffin heads, with an eagle's beak, probably a reference to the prince's birthplace, Sigmaringen Castle, also called the "Eagle's Nest". The wide cup repeats the decorative motifs found on the base, adding the lambrequin and the pearl motif, the emblem of refinement, immortality, strength of spirit and authentic value. The cup ends with a wide border, devoid of decoration, which gives the piece a note of finesse and refinement.
The stamped mark on the base, repeated on the body of the piece, representing five cartouches with the leopard's head, the lion, the queen's head, the letter and the cartouche with the goldsmith's initials, authenticates the year of creation, the name of the author and the location: Richard Hennell, London, 1865.