TRAPANI, SICILY, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Both in its natural form and when intricately carved, coral has been a prized material, and production of coral items are documented in European centres as far afield as Landshut in Bavaria, and Sicily. The most famous of these was Trapani with the court of the Sicilian Viceroy the most important source of patronage for the coral workers. The coral, usually combined with a gilt-copper ground and often embellished with enamels, was fashioned into a variety of religious and secular items including crucifixes, monstrances, mirror frames and as in this example, tazze.