The ovate body has a pear-shaped profile. Its decoration is divided into three strips separated by bands of vertical lines and concave circles imitating rows of settings for precious stones. Carved on the lower part are concave gadroons with flat edges separated by lines and double beads. In the middle are sprays of foliage and rows of seeds, while on the upper part, in low relief, are six seven-petalled double rosettes separated by gadroons. The four-lobed mouth is engraved with a decoration of bouquets and seeds. Two ribbed and scrolled or voluted handles are joined to the rim of the vessel by simple mounts with a central frieze of black enamelled ova. Joining the body to the neck and to the round foot are two mounts similar to the one on the foot, with enamelled overlays in white, black, green and red, adorned with eighteen rubies in square settings.

This vase is a work in the Milanese tradition, but with peculiarities in the decoration, such as the use of concave circles, the separation of the motifs by vertical lines, and the rosettes on the upper part, which also appear on a vase at the Louvre that came from the Grand Dauphin’s collection, and could belong to the reign of the first Bourbon monarch, Henry IV (1589-1610). This piece was not made by one of the usual major workshops, and could be related or perhaps attributed to the one which Arbeteta called the Workshop of the Eagles, owing to similarities between certain pieces. In this case, the profile of the vase is identical to that of another much taller piece in the Dauphin’s Treasure, O93, which is attributed to this workshop.

Original state: Juan Laurent y Minier, “Amphore, en cristal de roche taillé et gravé, montures d’or, émaux et pierreries, XVIe siècle, règne de Henri II”, c. 1879. Museo del Prado, HF0835/43 (L. Arbeteta, in press).