German Basin in Green and Red Serpentine Saxony circa 1600

Rare German Turned Basin in Green Serpentine with Red Serpentine Cabochons.

Saxony, circa 1600.

Dimensions: 40.5 cm diameter; 5.7 cm high

A large and finely turned basin in green serpentine, of banded and moulded circular form. The dished body rises from a flat, slightly domed base with a central raised boss, intended as a ewer stand, finely carved in concentric relief. The broad rim is adorned with six applied cabochons of variegated red serpentine, set as flat spherical bosses. Both the interior and underside are richly ornamented with moulded and engraved concentric rings, which artfully emphasise the natural striations and colour variations of the stone.

Provenance and Comparative Literature:
A closely related basin with its matching ewer is preserved at Skokloster Castle, Sweden (inv. 3607 SKO), illustrated in Eva Maria Hoyer, Sächsischer Serpentin: Ein Stein und seine Verwendung, Edition Leipzig, 1996, p. 130. See also p. 237, no. 87, for a related ewer stand in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. 3534).

Display stand photographed is not included however one can be provided upon request.