Lot Essay
Unlike other dishes meant purely for decoration, the present lot would have likely served a more functional role on the table, either for the display of food or for wine. Similar vessels can be seen in a 1574 painting by Flemish artist Antoon Claessens, now in the Groeningemuseum, Bruges (Inv. No. 0000.GRO0023.I), which depicts a group of officials at a banquet, with silver dishes for food and gilt dishes for wine.