A vessel made up of five pieces, the body of serpentine and the rest of heliotrope. By means of a silver gilt volute and a circle of rubies and diamonds in the form of a collar, an eagle’s head has been added, its feathers repeated on the enamel of the mount, which also features a string of gemstones. The stem rests on a flat foot. This part is enriched by four mounts with feuillages, and another ring of rubies and diamonds encircling the base of the stem. On the foot is a pattern of ribbons and leaves in the Parisian style. To judge by the type of mount, the piece was assembled in about 1680, taking advantage of an earlier vessel in the form of an oil lamp, in the style of some products from the Prague court. The eagle’s head, similar to others attributed to the Miseroni workshop, may in fact be a piece from the Sarachi workshop.

Numerous holes in the metal indicate the earlier presence of lost overlays. Of the 88 stones on the vessel in 1746, twenty remain today, including rubies and a spinel as well as twenty diamonds. The emeralds that originally decorated the piece are now lost.

The Museo del Prado has the phoptography by Juan Laurent y Minier Grande tasse, nero antico et jaspe sanguin, montures d’argent, or et pierreries, XVIe siècle, règne de Charles IX, c. 1879. Museo del Prado, HF0835/17 (L. Arbeteta, in press).