Hispanic fluted cups of the 17th century were often mounted with a spire-form finial in the center, the significance of which remains unclear. A fluted silver-gilt example, the central boss with traces of enamelling, was recovered from the wreck of Nuestra Senora de Atocha in 1985 and sold in these Rooms, June 14, 1988, lot 72. Another appears in Juan Bautista de Espinosa's Still-life with Silver-gilt Salvers formerly in the Reksten collection, illustrated on p. 27 of the 1988 catalogue. Such raised bosses may ultimately derive from the often-elaborate cage-type bosses intended to hold a bezoar stone in the so-called 'poison-cups' of the Renaissance period. For a discussion of these cups see C.F.T. Hartop, "New Light on Spanish 17th century Silver", The Silver Society Journal, Winter, 1990, pp. 5-12.