A silver mounted metamorphic basalt standing cup and cover - Lot 38

A silver mounted metamorphic basalt standing cup and cover A silver mounted basalt standing cup and cover Stone: Saxony, 17th century Mounting: unmarked, Germany, circa 1650 H. 23 cm; weight 890 g. Provenance: Bernard de Leye, Brussels ; Private collection, Paris. Comparative bibliography: E.M. Hoyer, Sächsischer Serpentin: ein Stein und seine Verwendung, exhibition catalog: Grassimuseum, Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Leipzig, 1995. Magie de l'Orfèvrerie, Faste et élégance Cinq siècles d'orfèvrerie européenne dans les collections privées, vol. II, exhibition catalog: ING cultural center, Brussels; Antwerp, 2004. The covered metamorphic basalt bowl features a baluster-shaped body with a wide central bulge. The domed lid features a flattened top. The foot is composed of a shaft adorned with a molded bow and a circular base. The silver mounting features a wolf's-tooth hoop around the base and a chain held by rings: one under the lid knob and the other on the upper groove of the shaft. Condition: good Metamorphic basalt can be considered a variety of grey serpentine with reddish-orange hues. The highly prized shape of this hanap was inspired by Germanic goldsmiths' pieces and remained virtually unchanged throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, although examples in faceted serpentine are sometimes found (cf. Hoyer, p. 53 & 235, no. 80; Magie de l'orfèvrerie, p.164, no. 152; Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, inv. P 1939-9). Some may also have an inner beaker that is barely visible when the hanap is closed (Hoyer, pp. 234-235, n°81; Nagel, Stuttgart, The J.J. Ludwig Collection, Regensburg, February 27-28, 2008, lot 301; Van Ham, November 17, 2012, lot 1387). A model with a mounting identical to ours was presented in the Magie de l'orfèvrerie exhibition in Brussels in 2004 (p. 163, no. 151). A very similar one, but without mounting, is kept at the Kunst- und Wunderkammer in Burg Trausnitz (inv. L R 1797).