The pair of O76, this vessel is composed of three pieces of rock crystal and two partly enamelled silver gilt mounts, both similar to O74. The globular body is made up of two pieces assembled with a moulding. The upper part is smooth while the lower one, with a bas-relief decoration of helicoidal gadroons and darts, is joined to the round foot. The piece is completed by two upper mounts forming a neck and lid in enamelled silver, with an arabesque embedded in opaque blue enamel. The finial is a small spray of flowers in enamelled gold with a ruby, a stone which also appears in the overlaid cartouches. The lip is formed by a seated boy sculpted in the round who is holding up a conch, while the handle emerges from another seated boy holding two coiled serpents. The piece is an example of the aesthetics of the so-called “Fontainebleau School”.

This piece belongs to a group of vessels whose carving and mounts are thought by Alcouffe to be French. All datable to the third quarter of the 16th century, they follow the models for vessels designed by the Parmesan Enea Vico and published in 1543. Found in different European collections, they share a number of characteristics. They are pieces carved in rock crystal with very similar mounts. The crystal sides of the vessels are generally thick, with helicoidal gadroons and dart patterns. The mounts, both gold and silver, are adorned with figures of children sculpted in the round, coiled serpents, conches, eagles and dolphins. Partially decorated with enamels, these elements are common to them all. The arabesques on the mount are inspired, like the mount on the foot of vessel O74, by models published by Sylvius in 1554, which can be related to the variations of Etienne Delaune, published in about 1575.

The Museo del Prado has the photograph by 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, HF0835/47.