Vase and Cover
1650-1700 (made)
| Place of origin |
The Miseroni workshop, set up by Emperor Rudolph II in Prague, was famous for its virtuoso cutting of rock crystal. The material was much prized by princely collectors, particularly when elaborately mounted. The vase was acquired from a celebrated 19th century collection, that of the Rothschild family at Mentmore Towers.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Rock crystal with gilded silver mounts |
| Brief description | Vase and cover, rock crystal with gilded silver mounts, possibly Italian, 1650-1700. |
| Physical description | The bowl of quatrefoil section is carved on each side with a grotesque mask, and below with large projecting leaves. Beneath the lip are intaglio-cut festoons of foliage with flies and birds. The scroll handles are attached to the body by gilded silver mounts. The cover of quatrefoil section is pierced with oval openings, and is surmounted by a finial approximating to a pyramid shape. The vase is very close in decoration and facture to a rock crystal flask in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, ascribed to Dionysio and Ferdinand Eusebio Miseroni, while the execution is by his son Ferdinand Eusebio. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | VASE AND COVER
Bohemian (now Czech Republic), Prague; 1640-50
Rock crystal with gilt bronze mounts
Probably by Ferdinando Eusebius Miseroni (d. 1684)
The Miseroni workshop, set up by Emperor Rudolph II in Prague, was famous for its virtuoso cutting of rock crystal. The material was much prized by princely collectors, particularly when elaborately mounted. The vase was acquired from an equally famous nineteenth-century collection, that of the Rothschild family at Mentmore Towers.
(1993 - 2011) |
| Object history | A similar flask is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. It was made in 1658, according to the inventory of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of 1660. When Dionysio died in 1661, Ferdinand Eusebio inherited his father's workshop. The style of carving of the present object suggests a date soon after the flask in Vienna. |
| Historical context | Acquired by private treaty for £3,330 (Central Fund) from Lord Rosebery, Lot. No. 1911, Mentmore Sale, 23.5.1977. This collection was formed by the Rothschilds in the nineteenth-century. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The Miseroni workshop, set up by Emperor Rudolph II in Prague, was famous for its virtuoso cutting of rock crystal. The material was much prized by princely collectors, particularly when elaborately mounted. The vase was acquired from a celebrated 19th century collection, that of the Rothschild family at Mentmore Towers. |
| Bibliographic reference | Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 137, pl. 254 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.22-1977 |
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| Record created | March 2, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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