This piece, which belongs to a set of two ewers with basins (O24 to O27), is a jug with a bell-shaped body and deep, hemispherical base, from which a spout with a sloping upper plane emerges. The mount takes the form of a grille, replacing the usual ribs of the lower part with pearl-laden leaves, a moulding in the lower third and uneven vertical strips bearing an S-shaped handle, with a mascaron, whorls and leaves. The volumes, together with the short neck and round base joined to the body, are linked to what have been termed Spanish “spouted jugs”, of which Cruz Valdovinos has made a major study.

In the case of this jug and O27, the spout is joined to the body by a curved flange, also to be found – as Arbeteta reports – in a jug at the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, inv. CE 580, marked by Alonso Gutiérrez Villoldo, “el Mozo”, and dated between 1580 and 1600. The volumes of that piece, apart from the handle, are reminiscent of the Prado’s vessels, although the spouts of the latter are longer and less prominent, the body somewhat more stylised and the fluting or ribs have been replaced here by strips of leaves. The same arrangement is seen on other jugs with hemispherical bases, for example the late 16^th century jug at the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, which is perhaps the most similar in profile. Finally, there is a jug similar in shape in the treasury of Naples Cathedral, also mentioned by Cruz Valdovinos.

According to the inventory of the Treasure conducted in 1776, the jug was at that time adorned with 89 small pearls of which 37 are currently preserved. Appliqués to the handle and the adornment of the body are also missing. The state of the work in the 19th century can be seen through the photography of Juan Laurent y Minier, "Vase agate sardoine, montures d’or avec émaux et pierreries, XVIe siècle, règne de Henri II", c. 1879, Museo del Prado, HF0835/28 (L. Arbeteta, in press).