Gold chalice, with enamel and pearls, Paris, 1870-1899, possibly made by Lucien Falize.

Standing on an eight-lobed spreading foot, this chalice is an elaborate gold, enamel and pearl object. The foot alternates between round and ogival curves and is superseded by a reeded border and then a corded band applied within. The central section of the foot rises from a pierced frieze with gothic tracery interspersed by foliage applied in the cusps. Four plaques of basse taille enamel, representing Saints George, John the Baptists, Peter, and possibly Sebastian are applied to the central part of the foot, alternating with panels of pierced tracery that are enriched with applied clusters of four pearls and a table-cut diamond. From a calyx of foliage rises the stem, square in shape, the sides of which alternate between red and green enamel and with applied foliage; the angles of all are corded. The spherical knop has panels of champlevé enamel in various geometric designs and a band of applied pearls and diamonds around the centre between two enamelled corded bands. The bowl of the chalice is rounded, with a plain everted lip, the lower section being decorated with enamel fluting in various designs, with applied foliage between and a molded base applied above. The upper part has four basse taille-enamelled scenes within trefoil surrounds, representing the Marriage of the Virgin, the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Circumcision. The areas between the scenes are decorated with panels of stylized foliage, translucent enamel, and applied pearls and diamonds; above and below are enamelled bands of stylized vines and applied diamonds between applied reeding.

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This chalice is typical of the Victorian period's eclectic approach to design: it combines elements of ecclesiastical and secular ornament from the mid-fifteenth to the early seventeenth century. John Hayward (London, 1981, cat. no. 152) descibed it as 'one of the most sumptuous creations of the XIXth century Historicist Style' and suggested that 'the most closely - related object is the enamelled and jewelled silver-gilt vase in Moorish - Gothic style by Karl Wagner [1799 - 1841] of Paris exhibited at the 'Exposition de l'industrie francaise', Paris, 1839, and aquired in that year for the Prussian Konigliche Kunstkammer, now in [the] Berlin Kunstgewerbemuseum' (Schroder, 1988, p. 632)

Provenance: Baron Edmund de Rothschild. Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1981.

Silver and gold plate in a variety of historicising styles was produced for display at the various international exhibitions that were mounted after the middle of the nineteenth century in Paris, London and other European capitals. Many of these pieces were made purely for prestige and speculation, and, while individual house styles are recognisable to some extent, unsigned works of this nature are difficult to attribute with any certainty.

Approach to design in the Victorian period was characterised by its eclecticism. This chalice is mainly inspired by the late Gothic style, but it also combines elements of ecclesiastical and secular motifs from the mid-15th to the early 19th centuries.

The 18th century saw an emerging class of rich citizens who used their acquired wealth to indulge a passion for beautiful objects. The Renaissance tradition of the treasury or Schatzkammer, a special room for displaying exotic artefacts, continued in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other types of display included presentation plate, often of solid gold, which in the 18th century was worth about twenty times the value of silver.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.

LOAN:GILBERT.12:1,2-2008