A rare parcel-gilt basin adorned with a medallion representi - Lot 9

A rare parcel-gilt basin adorned with a medallion representing Charity A rare parcel-gilt basin adorned with a medallion representing Charity Portugal, late 16th century Unmarked Diam. 53 cm Pds 3220 g. Provenance: SJ Phillips Ltd, London ; Galerie Neuse, Bremen ; Private collection, France. Comparative bibliography: J.M. Cruz Valdovinos, Platería Europea en Española (1300-1700), exhibition catalog: Fundación Central Hispano, Madrid, 1997. This circular silver basin features decorative elements in gilded silver. Among these, the rim of the wing is adorned with several concentric fillets and a frieze of pearls underlining a lacework of alternating flowery lambrequins, loaded with diamond points or cabochons, and small volutes topped by a pomegranate and its leaves. The central umbilicus is surrounded by a tracery of arabesque mantling and fleurons. The umbilicus is adorned with a frieze of ribbed grapes framing a medallion in relief depicting an allegory of Charity. She is depicted as a woman, draped in a long tunic, seated in the company of three putti: one balancing on her right leg, which she is holding with her hand, a second whom she is supporting against her breast with her arm, and a third, standing to her left, who appears to be trying to snuggle up to her. A tree occupies the left-hand side of the composition and, in the background on the right, we can make out the domes of buildings. A 16th-century Portuguese basin, of slightly smaller but otherwise similar proportions, was sold at Christie's in Paris on March 11, 2003 as part of the estate of Baron Fould-Springer and Cécile de Rothschild (lot 338). A set of dishes of the same type is studied by José Cruz Valdovinos in the catalog of the exhibition Platería Europea en Española (1300-1700), where no. 49 bears 16th-century Lisbon hallmarks. The medallion of the Allegory of Charity is identical to an anonymous 16th-century bronze plaque in the Musée de la Renaissance, Château d'Écouen (inv. E.Cl.12849).