Bruges 1600-1620, Chalice, Solid Silver

Very rare mass chalice in solid silver, partially gilded, dating from the very beginning of the seventeenth century (1600-1620). It rests on a foot with six lobes engraved with foliage, the curved and speckled top of the foot is decorated with gadroons. The hexagonal stem is interrupted by a knot also decorated with gadroons, encircled by a ring. The false cup which surrounds the cup of the chalice also takes up the gadroon decoration of the foot and the knot. The interior of the cup and its outer edge are gilded. As is often the case with religious goldwork, this very old chalice does not bear any visible hallmark. Its shape and its decorations nevertheless allow us to compare it to the production of two Bruges goldsmiths from the period 1600-1620. In the church of Wakken is preserved a practically identical chalice hallmarked by Jan III Crabbe, one of the most famous goldsmiths of the city of Bruges, of whom we have the impressive chasse reliquary of Saint-Eloi in the Saint-Sauveur cathedral and the sumptuous large reliquary of the Holy Blood, in the chapel of the Holy Blood. From the goldsmith Jacques De Cantere no less than four reliquaries are listed which have exactly the same base as our chalice. We can therefore easily attribute it to one of these two Bruges goldsmiths and date it between 1590 and 1620. It weighs more than 400 grams.