This Spanish chalice would have been used to hold consecrated wine during the Roman Catholic service of Mass. The round foot is embossed with half-figures of Christ carrying the Cross, St Peter, the Virgin, and St. John Baptist, separated by cherubs and fruit.
The chalice is made up of a number of different parts, organised around a central stem. The parts were made using a variety of silversmithing techniques in different areas of the workshop. It is assembled when the central screw is threaded through all the separate pieces and then tightened with a bolt. To prevent the stem from swivelling, some of the parts fix to each other using small pegs. The gilding was applied after the chalice was assembled as the parts that overlap remain 'white' in colour. Building up one object using a number of parts meant that the same basic pieces could also be used to create a range of different objects.