A tall-footed cup whose bowl has the form of a ship’s hull with a pointed prow and a slightly raised stern, while below are a balustroid stem and a tortoise for a foot, all formed by three pieces of rock crystal joined by two enamelled gold mounts. The decoration of the bowl is extremely fine, and may have had a political significance. The mount on the foot was stolen in 1918. Where its authorship
This O- 80 Made in a single piece of rock crystal, this masterpiece is a show of technical virtuosity. Its decoration permits philosophical, political or even alchemical readings, since it can symbolise the plenitude of the human being, the Universal Monarchy, or the transmutation of alchemy. Visually, it tells the story of Hermaphroditus, based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The fruit of the union betw