Art Deco Chalice, Jean Ausloos, Leuven 1940s, Sterling Silver,

Sumptuous chalice from the Art Deco period by the hand of the famous Lovaniste goldsmith Jean Ausloos (1899-1970). This internationally renowned artist is known for having participated in the entire stylistic evolution of the liturgical arts of the twentieth century. Apprentice at Devroye, he began his career by making pieces in the different historical styles that were still in vogue at the time. But very quickly he adopted in a very virtuoso way the new Art Deco style of which this chalice is a perfect and fine example. He became the official supplier of the many religious orders which had their general seminaries around the Catholic University of Louvain. He even made chalices with traditional African designs. At the end of the 1950s and until his death, he embraced a third style that could be cataloged as "studio design". He created fabulous pieces, totally avant-garde with pure lines. He combines gold and silver with precious wood, ivory, ceramic and enamels. The Leuven City Museum and the Madeleine Foundation in Brussels  have a very fine collection of these works. This hammered silver chalice takes up in its knot the thousand-year-old motif of the pelican which opens its chest to feed his  children.