This fabulous animal is made of three pieces of rock crystal. The top piece is a horned head with monstrous features resting on a long arched neck similar to that of a swan. It is set into a pear-shaped body with a cuirass-like front worked with scrolls and rows imitating precious stones. It also has short wings emerging from spirals and similar to those of bats. Its flexed and webbed feet are cut into the sides in high relief. The scaled body ends in a tail that wraps around itself. The animal, which seems to rest in the air, sits on a stem consisting of dolphins with interlaced tails. Their heads are on a foot decorated with waves. The upper piece can be removed to reveal a figurehead carved into the back with an open-mouthed oriental face. According to the inventory of pieces belonging to the Dauphin, which was drawn up in 1689, this piece had at least two gold adornments with black, red and violet enamel that may have been the same as those from another Dragon-shaped Vessel (O00112), as they are described in the same way. The result is a being of undetermined species, a mixture of serpent, mallard and dragon interpreted in a very peculiar language with considerable visual impact and a rather primitivistic appearance, as if it were the prototype for an entire series of cut-crystal hybrid animals of the sort that made the Sarachi’s workshop famous. And yet, this object differs from those known to have been made by that family, although certain details coincide. In 2001, Letizia Arbeteta attributed it, with considerable reservations, to the Miseronis’ workshop. Possibly the work of Gasparo Miseroni, who was active between 1550 and 1570, it resembles the monstrous figureheads with exaggeratedly open mouths later made by Ottavio and even later, by Dionysio Miseroni. The spirals from which the wings emerge appear on vessels attributed to the Miseronis’ workshop, including one at the Museo del Prado with snake-shaped figureheads and handles (O00101). The stem with interlaced dolphins appears in various works attributed to Gasparo Miseroni. The idea of an animal with flexed legs is also typical of the Miseronis and was employed in various ways over the course of its existence. As to the type of animal represented, the inventory of the French Crown’s furniture lists various vessels of this type, and even describes one that may be very similar to this one. While the dimensions are different, the appearance of this grotesque animal could correspond, not to the conventional image of a dragon, but instead, to what was known as caquesseitão in the early 17th century: a fabulous animal that the Portuguese saw in Sumatra in the 16th century. It is very similar to the examples that, according to historian Luis Castelo Lopes, represented that animal, although it lacks the line of spikes along its back that was considered one of its distinctive features.

This is one of the pieces in the Dauphin’s Treasure, a group of precious vessels from the sumptuous collection of Louis, Grand Dauphin of France, which were brought to Spain by his son and heir, Philip V, the first Spanish monarch from the Bourbon dynasty. Louis of France (1661-1711), was the son of Louis XIV and Marie Theresa of Austria. Influenced by his father, he began collecting at an early age, acquiring his works in a variety of manners, including gifts and purchases at auctions. Following the Dauphin’s death, Philip V (1683-1746) inherited a group of vessels, which were sent to Spain with their respective cases. In 1716, they were at the Alcázar in Madrid but were later moved to La Granja de San Ildefonso, where they were listed in the so-called Casa de las Alajas following Philip V’s death. In 1776, they were deposited in the Royal Cabinet of Natural History at the behest of Charles III, and they remained there until it was sacked by French troops in 1813. These works were returned two years later, although some were lost. The Dauphin’s Treasure entered the Royal Museum in 1839, but was again stolen in 1918. During the Spanish Civil war, these works were sent to Switzerland. When they were returned in 1939, one vessel was missing. They have been on exhibit at the Villanueva Building since then (Text drawn from Arbeteta, L.: El Tesoro del Delfín. Catálogo Razonado, 2001, pp. 227-229, and from Idem: Arte transparente. La talla del cristal en el Renacimiento milanés, 2015, pp. 86-89).