Red coral branch set on a Gothic brass base

Red coral branch set on a Gothic embossed brass base.
Coral, brass.
15th century.
h. 15 in. ; w. 11,8 in.

A branch of red coral mounted on a Gothic embossed and chased brass chalice base. The design of the chalice base combines a knot with floral ornaments and a hexagonal foot. This type of chalice was quite fashionable from the middle of the 13th century to the late of the 14th century, especially in Paris and for the most important commissions. It remained used, however, in the rest of France and Europe throughout the 15th century, especially in England by the 1360s.

Sources

Un trésor gothique : La châsse de Nivelles, Köln, 1996.

Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Mittelalterliche Bronze- und Messinggefäße. Eimer, Kanne, Lavabokessel, Berlin, 1998.

Virginia Glenn, Romanesque & Gothic Decorative Metalwork and Ivory Carvings in the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003.