GUILDED SILVER CUP. VALLADOLID, SPAIN, 17TH CENTURY..

Bernegal. Gilded silver. Valladolid, 17th century. With hallmark and engraving mark. Goblet with a circular foot (bernegal) decorated with fine smooth mouldings and a ribbed body (ten bites) with engraved plant-themed decoration on the inside and outside, made of gilded silver and which also has two "C" handles enhanced with strings of pearls in decreasing order at the top and a spherical element on the inside, at the junction of the ribs, reminiscent of a bezoar stone. The mark of contrast that places the cup's production in Valladolid is similar to that present in other outstanding pieces such as the late 16th-century spouted jar by Lázaro de Encalada from the Várez-Fisa Collection. Compare also with the Mexican bernegal and salvilla from the Monastery of the Conceptionists of Ágreda in Soria, decorated with vegetalized bracing; with the 17th-century bernegal from Toledo from the Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid (inv. 03910); and with one from the collection of the Valencia de Don Juan Foundation (Madrid). Likewise, note the similarity with a copy from a private Chilean collection from the galleon Nuestra Señora de la Limpia y Pura Concepción (which follows the model considered to be traditional in South America with a smooth, ribbed body with ten equal-sized sections, two “C” shaped handles raised above the mouth and a circular foot below), and with the one made before 1622 (the date of the shipwreck) from the ship Nuestra Señora de Atocha, also in a private collection (considerable size, similar shape to the present one, etc.). Likewise, it is worth mentioning the oil painting from the Masaveu Collection (Oviedo) by Juan Bautista de Espinosa known as “Still Life with Gold and Silver Objects” made in 1624, since the bernegal with salvilla situated in the centre of the composition bears a notable resemblance to the present piece. Called "mouthful glasses" or "mouthful cups" at the time, they were common pieces until the 18th century in Spain, and sometimes a bezoar stone was placed at the bottom to, according to the beliefs of the time, detect or neutralize poisons (however, other times it was a different element, adding a touch of surprise to the person who used it). Frequently, they were made to match a salver, decorating both in a similar way. It should be noted that they have not been preserved in very large numbers because it is common to reuse the material in other works (very few have reached us from Spain, although some more from among those made in Latin America). Very similar model auctioned at Sothebys February 2, 2024. Lot 6. Weight: 480 grams.

· Size: 19x17x11 cms.