Chalice
Chalice and Ciborium
19th Century
Silver-Gilt
chalice: H:9 1/2” x C:5 3/4” (24 cm x 15 cm)
ciborium: H:8” x C:5 1/4” (20 cm x 13 cm)
Opening bid: P 200,000
Provenance:
Richard and Sandra Lopez Collection
Lot 124 of the Leon Gallery auction on 18 February 2017. Please see www.leon-gallery.com for more details.
The ancient Roman calix was a drinking vessel consisting of a bowl fixed atop a stand and was in common use at banquets. A chalice (from the Latin calyx) is a standing cup used to hold sacramental wine during the Mass and was intended for drinking watered wine during the ceremony of the Eucharist (also called the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion).
Chalices have been used since the beginning of the Christian church. Because of Jesus' command to his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me." the celebration of the Eucharist became central to Christian liturgy. Since the wine was supposed to be transformed into the blood of Christ, naturally, the vessels used in this important act of worship were treated with great respect. Until Vatican II, it was even considered sacrilegious for laymen to even touch a chalice, what more with his bare hands!
In Western Christianity, chalices often have a pommel or node where the stem meets the cup to make the elevation easier and to prevent the cup from slipping. In Roman Catholicism, chalices tend to be tulip-shaped, and the cups are quite narrow. Catholic priests will often receive chalices from their families upon their ordination into the priesthood.
Often highly decorated, chalices in the colonial period were often made of precious metal and even enameled and jeweled. If funds were short, religious tradition required that the inside of the cup at least be plated with gold.
This silver-gilt chalice has a circular base,an urn-shaped knopf and surfaces embossed and chased with acanthus leaves that are delicately shaded with fine parallel lines. The large leaves on the base are interspersed with sixoval reserves chased with signs of the passion. Both the leaves and the reserves are bordered with fine beading.
The base of the cup is embossed and chased with four oval reserves surrounded by concave molding and containing signs of the Passion. Each reserve alternates with a bunch of grapes with leaves and tendrils. A border of finely line-shaded leaves running above the vines and reserves is topped by a circlet of tiny beads, called rosario de perlas in contemporary inventories. This decorative detail is painstakingly laborious, as each bead is formed and filed individually from a square silver wire welded into a ring. The fact that the beads are uniform in shape shows the great skill of the silversmith who created the pieces.
A ciborium is a metal vessel that was originally a particular shape of drinking cup in ancient Greece and Rome. Later, the word was used to refer to a large covered cup designed to hold and store the consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion. It resembles the shape of a chalice, but its bowl is more round than conical and is surmounted by a cross or other sacred design. Because it is used to hold the ‘Body of Christ’, as the consecrated host is believed to be, the ciborium was typically made, or at least plated, in a precious metal.
This particular ciborium has a simple circular base and is decorated with chased foliate and floral patterns on a stippled ground. The base is edged with a chased gadroon border and decorated on the upper portion with a repetitive design of single bloom alternating with a foliated shield. Rows of chased acanthus leaves decorate the lower part of the stem and the bun-shaped knopf, the latter placed between a pair of spindles chased with a beaded collar. The rounded bowl of the ciborium and its cover are plain. The latter was originally surmounted with a cross that is now missing.
This particular chalice is ‘dorado afuego’ or fire-gilded, a process wherein pure gold is combined with mercury to form a paste which is then painted over the surface to be gilded. When the object is baked, the mercury oozes out leaving a coating of pure gold on the surface. The process is highly toxic due to the mercury fumes exuded and is seldom used today. Nowadays, an object gilded in this manner is called vermeil.
-Martin I. Tinio, Jr.
Chalice
Chalice and Ciborium
19th Century
Silver-Gilt
chalice: H:9 1/2” x C:5 3/4” (24 cm x 15 cm)
ciborium: H:8” x C:5 1/4” (20 cm x 13 cm)
Opening bid: P 200,000
Provenance:
Richard and Sandra Lopez Collection
Lot 124 of the Leon Gallery auction on 18 February 2017. Please see www.leon-gallery.com for more details.
The ancient Roman calix was a drinking vessel consisting of a bowl fixed atop a stand and was in common use at banquets. A chalice (from the Latin calyx) is a standing cup used to hold sacramental wine during the Mass and was intended for drinking watered wine during the ceremony of the Eucharist (also called the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion).
Chalices have been used since the beginning of the Christian church. Because of Jesus' command to his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me." the celebration of the Eucharist became central to Christian liturgy. Since the wine was supposed to be transformed into the blood of Christ, naturally, the vessels used in this important act of worship were treated with great respect. Until Vatican II, it was even considered sacrilegious for laymen to even touch a chalice, what more with his bare hands!
In Western Christianity, chalices often have a pommel or node where the stem meets the cup to make the elevation easier and to prevent the cup from slipping. In Roman Catholicism, chalices tend to be tulip-shaped, and the cups are quite narrow. Catholic priests will often receive chalices from their families upon their ordination into the priesthood.
Often highly decorated, chalices in the colonial period were often made of precious metal and even enameled and jeweled. If funds were short, religious tradition required that the inside of the cup at least be plated with gold.
This silver-gilt chalice has a circular base,an urn-shaped knopf and surfaces embossed and chased with acanthus leaves that are delicately shaded with fine parallel lines. The large leaves on the base are interspersed with sixoval reserves chased with signs of the passion. Both the leaves and the reserves are bordered with fine beading.
The base of the cup is embossed and chased with four oval reserves surrounded by concave molding and containing signs of the Passion. Each reserve alternates with a bunch of grapes with leaves and tendrils. A border of finely line-shaded leaves running above the vines and reserves is topped by a circlet of tiny beads, called rosario de perlas in contemporary inventories. This decorative detail is painstakingly laborious, as each bead is formed and filed individually from a square silver wire welded into a ring. The fact that the beads are uniform in shape shows the great skill of the silversmith who created the pieces.
A ciborium is a metal vessel that was originally a particular shape of drinking cup in ancient Greece and Rome. Later, the word was used to refer to a large covered cup designed to hold and store the consecrated hosts of the sacrament of Holy Communion. It resembles the shape of a chalice, but its bowl is more round than conical and is surmounted by a cross or other sacred design. Because it is used to hold the ‘Body of Christ’, as the consecrated host is believed to be, the ciborium was typically made, or at least plated, in a precious metal.
This particular ciborium has a simple circular base and is decorated with chased foliate and floral patterns on a stippled ground. The base is edged with a chased gadroon border and decorated on the upper portion with a repetitive design of single bloom alternating with a foliated shield. Rows of chased acanthus leaves decorate the lower part of the stem and the bun-shaped knopf, the latter placed between a pair of spindles chased with a beaded collar. The rounded bowl of the ciborium and its cover are plain. The latter was originally surmounted with a cross that is now missing.
This particular chalice is ‘dorado afuego’ or fire-gilded, a process wherein pure gold is combined with mercury to form a paste which is then painted over the surface to be gilded. When the object is baked, the mercury oozes out leaving a coating of pure gold on the surface. The process is highly toxic due to the mercury fumes exuded and is seldom used today. Nowadays, an object gilded in this manner is called vermeil.
-Martin I. Tinio, Jr.