17th Century Italian Silver Filigree mounted Rock Crystal Cup

17th Century Silver Filigree mounted Rock Crystal Cup.

Palazzo Madama, Turin.

Height: 18.5cm, Width: 20.5cm, Depth: 13.5cms.

 https://www.palazzomadamatorino.it/en/archivio-catalogo/dragone/

Attributed by Mallé to the Florentine grand ducal workshops of the second half of the 16th century, where engravers and carvers of crystal and hard stones of Milanese origin, such as Gerolamo and Gasparo Miseroni.

For more on Miseroni hard stone rock crystal and filigree mounts see my blog post - 

https://antiqueeuropeanfiligree.blogspot.com/2023/05/ferdinand-eusebio-miseroni-in.html

S. Pettenati suggested the Milanese workshops, specializing in the production of crystal and semi-precious stone vases and cups whose presence is documented in the inventories of the collections of the main European sovereigns.

In particular, he suggests the manufacture and design of the cup to the workshop of Ottavio Miseroni, the son of Gerolamo Miseroni, active in the court of Rudolf II in Prague from 1588 to 1594, where he was later joined by his brother Giovanni Ambrogio Miseroni, while a third brother worked for the court of Madrid.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna holds two cups produced in their flourishing workshop, which show close analogies with that of the Museum (inv. 1338 and 1370).

Bibliography:

Civic Museum of Turin. Ancient Art Section. One hundred plates reproducing about 700 objects published by the Management of the Museum, 1905,

Mallé L., Civic Museum of Turin. Vetri, Vetrate, Giade, Rock crystals and hard stones, 1971, pp. 377-378,

Pettenati S., The Treasure of the City, 1996, p. 84,

Palazzo Madama. Guide, 2011, p. 112-113,

Pettenati S., The Treasure of the City, 1996, p. 85.