Agate flask with three handles
1525 - 1550. Agate, Enamel, Garnet, Gold. Room 079BThis flask is one of a pair (I-1399). It was wrongly thought lost in 1815, and the other flask it formed a pair with was stolen in 1918. It has an agate body and enamelled gold mounts whose upper part is formed by three S-shaped handles and hanging garnets, two of which had been lost. It formed part of the French Royal Collection, probably since the times of Francis I (1494-1547). After its return from Paris in 1815, this piece was incorrectly assembled on vessel O14, as can be seen in the 19th century photographs. It is now shown separately for the first time.
The hanging garnets belong to the pyrope variety, and hanging gems (garnets and pearls) of a similar size, cut and system of suspension are found on the candelabra and reliquary cups from the Chapelle du Saint-Esprit, belonging to the French Royal Collection and now preserved at the Musée du Louvre, inv. MR 545, 546 and 547. Bimbenet-Privat considers them close to the works of the silversmith Pierre Mangot.
Original state: Juan Laurent y Minier, “Vase, cristal de roche taillé et gravé, montures d’or et émail, XVIe siècle, règne de Henri III”, c. 1879. Museo del Prado, HF0835/7 (L. Arbeteta, in press).