- 292
An agate cup mounted in enameled gold
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
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Description
- the openwork foot with silver-gilt frame, visible underneath; marked on top foot rim with 19th century French control
- Enamel, Agate
- height 5 5/8 in.
- 14.4cm
circular base surrounded by an openwork band of green leaves and graduated pearls within shaped lappets, baluster stem, the shaped cup of mottled brown agate held above the stem by enameled chimera brackets linked by black and white patterned bands
Condition
one tiny chip to rim, enamel loss to underside of disk at top of stem, small areas of loss to green and white enamel
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
The unusual mounting of this cup should be compared with an ancient sardonyx cup mounted in enameled gold, formerly in the collections of Louis XIV and J.P. Morgan and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (17.190.594). That piece also has a gap between the stem and the bottom of the bowl, to emphasize the translucency of the stone. The foot mount of leaf tips and lappets on the offered cup is used by the "atelier blanc et or", active in Paris about 1650, and known from a group of pieces in the Galerie d'Apollon (see Daniel Alcouffe, Les Gemmes de la Couronne, pp. 408-422). It was reprised in the mid 19th century, particularly by Charles Duron, as on the cup at the Carnegie Museum, see Jason T. Busch and Catherine L. Futter, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939, fig. 24, p. 68.