A vessel made up of three pieces of rock crystal and three enamelled gold mounts. The body is formed by a boat-shaped piece with a figurehead on the prow consisting of a mask with pointed ears and ram’s horns. It is entirely decorated with painted enamel in warm tones with touches of blue. The rock crystal is decorated with some vegetable clusters on the foot and afterdeck, and garlands with fruits, tendrils and rows of seeds, rather coarse in execution, beneath the stern, leaving the prow unado

The coffer is a key item in any study of French silverware and European collecting. Initially part of Cardinal Mazarin’s collection, on his death it was sold at auction, subsequently being acquired by the Grand Dauphin. The gold crafting links this piece to a group of works associated with the so-called Maestro of Dragons, Pierre Delabarre, a Parisian silversmith who qualified as a master craftsman in 1625. The entire surface of the eight faces is richly decorated by a band of enamelled gold, wi

Vessel made up of three pieces of agate and six enamelled gold mounts. The boat-shaped bowl is decorated externally with a carved band of interlaced ovals separated by five-pointed fleurons. Running around the lip is a smooth gold mount, enamelled on the interior, with overlaid adornments of green leaves and white berries with incrustations of rubies and emeralds. At the stern is a Cupid enamelled in white with his bow and quill set with diamonds. He is riding a monster with the head and body of

Vessel comprising four hardstone pieces and five enamelled gold mounts. The oblong bowl has a boat-shaped profile with gadroons at the ends. A leaf-shaped piece serving as a lip is joined to the body with a mount of leaves and rows of beads enamelled in white and sky blue. The stem consists of a heliotrope ball and a balustroid piece linked to a flat oval foot, with an adornment of rounded leaves and black festoons on the opaque white enamel. At the stern of the boat, rendered with great realism

Goblet comprising three pieces of lapis lazuli and enamelled gold chasing. The oval body has a wide concave moulding in the upper border while the lower part is decorated with a bas-relief of egg-and-dart motifs. The thick knot forming the stem rests on an oval base, with incised ovolos. It is surrounded by an adornment of enamelled gold in various colours. At the front, a white enamelled boy seems to hold the goblet aloft, between two open-jawed half-dragons with opal eyes, mobile red tongues a