Details
A rare, small medieval, silver-gilt hardstone set chalice,
the hemispherical bowl with a slightly everting lip, on a circular trumpet foot with flared rim and a compressed circular knop, flanked above and below with beaded wirework bands, the knop and foot both decorated with blind filigree scrollwork bands, both cabouchon set with irregular shaped gemstones and pearls, the bowl engraved on one side with the figure of a bishop holding a symbolic model of a church or cathedral and a figure of a saint with raised open hands, probably German, datable to between 11th and 13th centuries - 8.1cm high, 6.5cm dia of bowl, 2.75oz.
Refer to department for estimate.
General condition of chalice is good, age notwithstanding, and is consistent with an item preserved by burial or entombment. A section of the filigree band around the foot is missing and part of one side of the foot has thinned and perished and a small section of the bowl is also missing. All the gems and pearls are later replacements.
*A precise dating of the chalice is very difficult, however the shape, proportions and particularly the engraving: the Romanesque architecture, the style of costume and bishop's mitre and the rendering of the face, hands and feet, point strongly to the pre-Gothic era and are consistent with other items from the 11th - 13th centuries.
See Illustration, details and Front Cover
the hemispherical bowl with a slightly everting lip, on a circular trumpet foot with flared rim and a compressed circular knop, flanked above and below with beaded wirework bands, the knop and foot both decorated with blind filigree scrollwork bands, both cabouchon set with irregular shaped gemstones and pearls, the bowl engraved on one side with the figure of a bishop holding a symbolic model of a church or cathedral and a figure of a saint with raised open hands, probably German, datable to between 11th and 13th centuries - 8.1cm high, 6.5cm dia of bowl, 2.75oz.
Refer to department for estimate.
General condition of chalice is good, age notwithstanding, and is consistent with an item preserved by burial or entombment. A section of the filigree band around the foot is missing and part of one side of the foot has thinned and perished and a small section of the bowl is also missing. All the gems and pearls are later replacements.
*A precise dating of the chalice is very difficult, however the shape, proportions and particularly the engraving: the Romanesque architecture, the style of costume and bishop's mitre and the rendering of the face, hands and feet, point strongly to the pre-Gothic era and are consistent with other items from the 11th - 13th centuries.
See Illustration, details and Front Cover