Elegant Gilt Silver Ciborium. France, late XIX Century

Elegant Golden Silver Ciborium, manufactured at the end of the 19th century. Precious and delicate religious piece of undulating forms and beautiful vegetal decoration based on chiseled leaves with simple interior pearling and flanked at the intersections by an original stippling that imitates tiny little flowers. It presents a wide circular base silhouetted with decoration of beautiful leaves distributed in perfect geometry. The foot has in its central part a thick knot decorated with leaves framed in rhomboidal shapes in clear harmony with the base and the cup. The solid silver cup is divided into two parts separated by a delicate double bead that runs around the entire contour. The lid has the same decoration as the base, with alternating leaves in clear harmony playing with the alternating roughness and shine of the metal. The top of the piece, in the form of a Latin cross, is beautifully made, and is clearly linked to the religious symbolism of this type of piece. The cross, with quadrangular points, appears decorated in its center by a delicate flower that denotes a greater decoration to this fantastic piece. The foot is of golden metal and the cup is of solid silver. The piece appears contrasted where the lid closes, with the marks of solid sterling silver with the French stamp (Minerva), which attests to its origin and originality, with all its genuine contrasts and in very good state of conservation and aesthetics, which undoubtedly makes it a truly magnificent piece.Solid pieces such as the cup in this example are made by casting, and are of a higher quality, as this is an expensive method of manufacture. The origin of religious silver dates back to the years when, thanks to Constantine the Great, Christianity became the official state religion. From that moment on, this type of objects would become one of the main incomes of silver craftsmen. This type of religious pieces, like the rest of the decorative arts, go according to the style of the moment. They present the most varied forms, almost always giving priority to vegetal and floral forms, but always adding the cross, either in the top or in some part of the cup or foot, leaving clearly marked the liturgical use that was given to this type of pieces.Decorative piece perfect for a room according to its quality.Measures: 22 cm (height) and 9.5 cm (diameter of the base).