Asset number
1571571001
Description
Ewer, silver-gilt. Richly embossed and chased. Classical form comprising oviform body, short stem and small foot, with high spout and handle. Decorated in Mannerist style with scenes of Neptune and Amphitrite, executed in low relief, each within a roundel in the middle of either side of the ewer. Remainder of body covered in elaborate strapwork filled with terms, masks, grotesques, snails, snakes and foliage. Lower spout supported by upraised hands of a caryatid female figure applied to front of ewer, her feet resting on the head of a horned mask with beard and pointed ears. Spout ends in form of a beast's neck terminating in a horned goat-like head. Terminal of handle in form of a Pan-like satyr with hooves resting on a bracket of scrolling strapwork above the head of a female mask framed by looped drapery. The projecting lip is richly embossed withn a half-animal, half-human mask. Handle rises in sharp curve to form limb of a reptile gripping the scalp of a male mask surrounded by drapery. Marked.
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