A zoomorphic vessel representing a bird with spread wings. It is made up of eight pieces of rock crystal joined by silver gilt mounts with overlays of gold enamelled in opaque white and black, together with dark blue and translucent red, fleurettes, C shapes and simulated inset rubies. The vessel has an ovate profile with two large gadroons enfolding the bird’s tail. Emerging from the narrower front is a long neck ending in a fierce-looking head with a crest and a half-open beak. Large feathers are carved on the breast, followed by foliate scrolls that leave the hind area empty. Two mounts on the sides hold the open wings, carved to resemble plumage. The vessel is supported by legs that rest on a small foot. The cover forms the upper part of the bird, and has a small baluster as a finial.

The piece is described as an ostrich in the Versailles inventory of 1689, and as a cockerel in those of La Granja de San Ildefonso in 1746 and the Real Gabinete de Ciencias Naturales in 1776. Besides being the symbol of France, the cockerel is also emblematic of two qualities, vigilance and courage (et vigit, et pugnax), which may have both a religious and a political reading. In terms of religion, the cockerel, according to St Augustine, is the image of one who longs to attain eternal life. Politically, it represents the brave and quick-witted prince, well-informed and impervious to danger. This animal is also related to the world of tradesmen and business in general, where the necessary diligence is represented by the cock’s morning crow. For the same reason, the cockerel also symbolises the father, who has to watch over his family, and the preacher, who “awakens” the repentance of sinners with the Word of God.

Arbeteta attributed the piece to the workshop of the Sarachi. This family specialised in making vessels in the form of animals. In the specific case of this bird, there are similar pieces made of rock crystal in various sizes in a number of European collections, such as the Cockerel at the Treasury of the Teutonic Order in Vienna, inv. G029. They also resemble another type of bird-shaped vessel that is described in the old inventories as Reiger (from Reiher, “heron”), since it was adorned with plumes of natural feathers in imitation of the original bird.

Original state: Juan Laurent y Minier, “Coupe, cristal de roche taillé et gravé, montures d’argent doré et or avec émaux. XVIe siècle, règne de Henri III”, c. 1879. Museo del Prado, HF0835/37 (L. Arbeteta, in press).