Chalice, 1774, Tienen, Sterling Silver, Egidius Cornelius Junior, Tienen

Sumptuous Mass chalice from the Louis XVI period in sterling  silver. It bears the hallmarks of the city of Louvain for the year 1774 and the hallmark of master goldsmith of Egidius Cornelis in Tirlemont (Tienen). This so-called "remote" master had the right to manufacture his objects in Tienen but depended on the jurande of the master goldsmiths of the city of Louvain to have his abundant production checked and hallmarked. Egidius was the son of a goldsmith and was born in another small town , Diest in 1739, he apprenticed in Brussels with the goldsmith Jean Brichaut and was admitted to  masterhood  in 1761 just after his father's death. He obtained the right to settle in his hometown of Diest and manufacture his works as a remote master silversmith from the Brussels jurande. In 1771 he married a young lady from Tienen , and Diest having four goldsmiths, he asked for his transfer to Tienen  where only one goldsmith's widow continued her late husband's workshop. Until 1793, the presence of listed works testifies to his professional activity. Afterwards, he seems to have changed profession because in 1799 the administration of the French occupation lists him as "ribon merchant  residing in the big mountain". Its maker's mark in the shape of a pistol is quite easily recognizable. Its sumptuous chalice unscrews in three parts and weighs 480 grams.