He holds a short sceptre in his left hand and a great cup in his right; his throne is set upon the sea; on one side a ship is riding and on the other a dolphin is leaping. The implicit is that the Sign of the Cup naturally refers to water, which appears in all the court cards.
the plate, in waite's words · the painted card will hang here in time
In divination
Fair man, man of business, law, or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the Querent; also equity, art and science, including those who profess science, law and art; creative intelligence.
Enthroned upon the sea itself, a ship riding on one side and a dolphin leaping on the other, the King makes literal the one element Waite ever names outright for a suit, "the Sign of the Cup naturally refers to water, which appears in all the court cards." He carries cups' feeling as governed rather than simply felt, read across Waite's synthesis as business, equity, and "creative intelligence," water given a throne rather than left to run wherever it pours.
a young page · the keeper's voice pass on the note is still to come