German silver and rock crystal reliquary

An image of Reliquary. Unknown silversmith, Germany. The rock crystal body, baluster stem, slightly domed foot and domed cover are all hexagonal and slightly wider than deep. The cover has an attached baluster finial. The reliquary and cover are mounted with borders of silver-gilt with pierced and cast scroll decoration. A putti head is engraved on one side of the tube, and scrolls are engraved on the underside of the base to cover flaws in the rock crystal. The knop on the stem is engraved with a band of roundels. The mounts are decorated with engraved borders. Six bands, each pierced with two crosses, extend from the rim mount one third of the way down the sides, and between these are cast scrolls. Similar cast scrolls decorate the mounts on the foot and round the finial. Silver-gilt and rock crystal. Height, overall, 29.2 cm, width, base, 11.5 cm, depth, base, 8.5 cm, circa 1550-circa 1650. Notes: The silver-gilt is not marked, but was probably made in Germany, possibly Freiburg-Breisgau.

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Reliquary. Unknown silversmith, Germany. The rock crystal body, baluster stem, slightly domed foot and domed cover are all hexagonal and slightly wider than deep. The cover has an attached baluster finial. The reliquary and cover are mounted with borders of silver-gilt with pierced and cast scroll decoration. A putti head is engraved on one side of the tube, and scrolls are engraved on the underside of the base to cover flaws in the rock crystal. The knop on the stem is engraved with a band of roundels. The mounts are decorated with engraved borders. Six bands, each pierced with two crosses, extend from the rim mount one third of the way down the sides, and between these are cast scrolls. Similar cast scrolls decorate the mounts on the foot and round the finial. Silver-gilt and rock crystal. Height, overall, 29.2 cm, width, base, 11.5 cm, depth, base, 8.5 cm, circa 1550-circa 1650. Notes: The silver-gilt is not marked, but was probably made in Germany, possibly Freiburg-Breisgau.

Image data

Accession Number: MAR.M.55 & A-1912
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal length: 100
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 981 pixels
Image width: 514 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
Filesize: 351.11kB
Exposure time: 1/100
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 22/1
Captured: 2008:11:07 15:34:05

Key words

16th Century 17th Century cast church plate cover crystal domed domes ecclesiastical engraved engraving finial Fitz_AA German gold knop pierced putti putto religion religious reliquary rock crystal scrolls Silver silver-gilt silverware stem

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2026)
            "German silver and rock crystal reliquary"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-207004 Accessed: 2026-01-02 22:00:29

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