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Lot Essay
The present bowl is extremely interesting in that the inspiration for the handle is clearly taken from a magnificent 16th-century example, formerly in the collection of Louis XIV and now in the Louvre Museum, Paris, illustrated here.
Vasters designed two other similar bowls with bail handles, both now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. One of these was bequeathed by Robert Altman and the other is from the Robert Lehman Collection. The designs for both mounts are recorded among the Vasters drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It has been suggested that the carving of the rock-crystal itself of these bowls is Milanese, 16th century (Y. Hackenbroch, "Reinhold Vasters, Goldsmith," Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 19-20, 1984-5, pp. 195-8, figs. 62-6 and 68-9).
Vasters's involvement with this piece is further indicated by the black and white enameled band around the stem, which is very close to the border of the rock-crystal cup and cover for which Vasters's designs exist. Similar mounts are also found on Vasters's shell-shaped rock-crystal cup formerly in the Benjamin Altman Collection and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1913, 14. 40. 655).
Vasters designed two other similar bowls with bail handles, both now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. One of these was bequeathed by Robert Altman and the other is from the Robert Lehman Collection. The designs for both mounts are recorded among the Vasters drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It has been suggested that the carving of the rock-crystal itself of these bowls is Milanese, 16th century (Y. Hackenbroch, "Reinhold Vasters, Goldsmith," Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 19-20, 1984-5, pp. 195-8, figs. 62-6 and 68-9).
Vasters's involvement with this piece is further indicated by the black and white enameled band around the stem, which is very close to the border of the rock-crystal cup and cover for which Vasters's designs exist. Similar mounts are also found on Vasters's shell-shaped rock-crystal cup formerly in the Benjamin Altman Collection and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1913, 14. 40. 655).