Lot 162
162
A FINE SPANISH SILVER-GILT AND ENAMEL CHALICE
A FINE SPANISH SILVER-GILT AND ENAMEL CHALICE

CORDOBA, CIRCA 1500, MAKER'S MARK DIAS, ALSO WITH ASSAYER'S MARK LS

Details
A FINE SPANISH SILVER-GILT AND ENAMEL CHALICE
Cordoba, circa 1500, maker's mark DIAS, also with assayer's mark LS
On spreading octafoil foot, with band of stamped foliage, the base with alternating translucent enamelled panels of scenes from the lives of saints and gothic foliage on a punched ground, the hexagonal knopped stem with enamelled panels and roundels, the plain cup set into a calyx of openwork gothic foliage, marked on foot and foot rim
10.5/8in. (27cm.) high

Lot Essay

The overall proportions of the chalice and certain of its decorative features associate it with a number of late fifteenth and early sixteenth century chalices illustrated by José Manuel Cruz Valdovinos, Platería en la Época de los Reyes Católicos, Madrid, 1992. Very similar stamped foliage appears on one dating to 1511/14 from Burgos (cat. no. 70) and comparable embossed foliage panels and calyx are found, among others, on another Burgos chalice, dating to 1489/93 (cat. no. 68). Likewise, a chalice of 1515 from Segovia (cat. no. 29) treats the stem in a very similar way, with corded moldings bordering the panels and architectural pinnacles applied to its base.