Lot 9
9
A LARGE SPANISH OR SPANISH COLONIAL SILVER-GILT MONSTRANCE
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A LARGE SPANISH OR SPANISH COLONIAL SILVER-GILT MONSTRANCE

LATE 16TH CENTURY/17TH CENTURY, APPARENTLY UNMARKED, THE CIRCULAR FRAME WITHIN THE MANDORLA LATER

Details
A LARGE SPANISH OR SPANISH COLONIAL SILVER-GILT MONSTRANCE
Late 16th Century/17th Century, apparently unmarked, the circular frame within the mandorla later
On octafoil base, the corners with flat double scroll holes for nails, the raised sides prick-engraved with scrolling foliage at intervals, the centre cast and chased with bands of guilloche ornament and scrolling fruit and foliage with applied cherubs' busts at intervals, the flat centre with figures of the Virtues including Justice and Faith, each in oval and scroll cartouche with fruit festoons between, the stem in seven detachable sections, the cylindrical lower part cast and chased with fruit and foliage with four applied grotesque animal head and scroll brackets, the centre rising from lamp-shaped base with similar applied bird's head brackets and applied with figures of a Saint and three bishops, each within twisted column and shell niche with applied caryatid support surmounted by baluster finial between, the upper part applied with female busts with foliage festoons between and applied grotesque animal mask brackets, the vase-shaped socket with four scrolling foliage brackets and chased with fruit and foliage, the detachable circular frame with locking pin and four applied cherubs' busts within alternate rayed and tapering mandorla surmounted by crucifix
32 in. (80 cm.) high
Gross weight 150 oz. (4,690 gr.)
Provenance
Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. (1850-1912), Bath House, London, in the Red Room, by whom bequeathed, with a life interest to his widow, Alice, Lady Wernher, subsequently Lady Ludlow (1862-1945), to their son
Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt., G.C.V.O. (1893-1973), Bath House, London, and from 1948, Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, and by descent.
Literature
1913 Bath House Inventory, p. 8, no. 39, in the Red Room.
1914 Wernher Inventory, p. 8, no. 34.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This monstrance could possibly be a fine example of Spanish Colonial work, perhaps from Mexico. Assuming this is indeed the case, it could well date from the seventeenth century. The form of the mandorla in particular, normally dates from the late seventeenth century in Central and South America. It is also possible that the monstrance base is Spanish work of circa 1580, and the detachable mandorla is a later Spanish Colonial replacement.

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