TRAPANI, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

細節

AN OCTAGONAL SILVER, GILT-COPPER, ENAMEL AND CORAL-MOUNTED HOLY WATER STOOP
TRAPANI, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY
The central panel with a figure of the Immaculate Virgin flanked by two saints in niches and God the Father above, the panel and frame elaborately embellished with carved coral pieces, with a suspension loop to the top and with a naturalistic silver and coral-mounted water stoop at the bottom; the gilt-bronze frame decorated with blue and white enamel and coral rosettes and putti masks; the reverse richly engraved with scrolls and figures; very minor losses
19¼ in. (49 cm.) high

出版

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Trapani, Museo regionale Pepoli, Coralli - talismani sacri e profani, 1 March - 1 June 1986.
Brescia, Brixiantiquaria, Il corallo trapanese nei secoli XVI e XVII, 16 - 24 November 2002.

注意事項

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

拍品專文

According to mythology, coral was originally formed when Perseus slew the gorgon, Medusa, and the blood which flowed from her head became petrified. It was considered to have talismanic properties in the ancient and early modern worlds, and in this sense the coral used here would have reflected the Christian belief in the talismanic properties of the holy water taken from the stoop.

Coral was widely used in the Mediterranean as a decorative embellishment, but nowhere more so than in Sicily, where there was both the availability of the raw materials and the patronage of the Sicilian vice-roys who encouraged production. The town of Trapani, in particular, developed a thriving industry which specialised in the lavish decoration of a variety of objects with gilt-copper, coral, enamels and, later, mother-of-pearl. The present lot is virtually identical to an example, albeit without the stoop, which was included in the large exhibition on coral held in Trapani in 1986, dated to the first half of the 17th century (see Coralli - talismani sacri e profani, op. cit., no. 35). Both have the octagonal form, the enamelled border, the architectural perspective and the figure of the Immaculate Virgin flanked by saints with God the Father above.