Victoria's Royal BC Museum features drinking vessels of celebrities: Sean Connery to Ewan McGregor

October 13, 3:05 PMSeattle Travel ExaminerSue Frause

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No surprise that celebrities have their favorite drinking vessels. Silver of the Stars, an exhibition making its Canadian premier at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, is an impressive collection of contemporary silver created for some of the biggest names in film, music, fashion, theater and literature.

Based on the theme A drink with a close friend, ten celebrities (including Sir Sean Connery, Robbie Coltrane and Ewan McGregor), paired up with Scottish silversmiths to create elaborate drinking vessels. The finished silverworks, along with accompanying stories, range from stylish to the amusing. Fashion designer Alexander McQueen's dream is to share a goblet of absinthe with Cate Blanchett, while comedian Billy Connolly envisions himself drinking tea with God.

And this isn't your typical silver exhibition: the vessels range from Ewan McGregor's motorcycle-inspired coffee pot to Sir Sean Connery's gilded drinking bowl. Sir Sean Connery imagines himself in Ankara, Turkey, sharing one of Scotland’s finest malt whiskies with Atatürk – founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. The interior of the quaich (Scottish drinking bowl) is gilded and its body is embossed with apple-tree branches and fruit, symbolizing a hunger for learning. Whereas Ewen McGregor's mug and coffee pot handles remind the actor of a world-journey he once took by motorcycle. On that trip, McGregor enjoyed the most memorable drink of his life after having spent 14 hours trying to cross the Ukrainian border – a cup of the strongest coffee he’d ever tasted.

A companion exhibition, The Millennium Collection for Bute House, is a selection of tableware designed for use at the Scottish First Minister's official residence. Created between 1999-2000, the 15-piece set celebrates the re-establishment of Scotland's Parliament after an absence of nearly 300 years. Both collections in the Silver of the Stars exhibition were commissioned by the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh.

Silver of the Stars runs from Oct. 23, 2009 to Jan. 10, 2010.