SARACCHI brothers

The circular bowl was cut from a single piece of rock crystal. The low-gorged foot has an unpolished edge, implying that a support was originally intended for it. The handle in the form of shells, however, was fabricated out of rock crystal by the stonecutter together with the overall shape.

The Saracchi Family had a close artistic exchange with Annibale Fontana, whose compositions and figure types frequently served as models for the Saracchi workshop. In the present case, Simone Saracchi copied the four figures in the centre of the bowl, which represent the four seasons, directly from the respective figures of Fontana in his Proserpina goblet.

The body of this semiprecious jasper cup was carved in Milan in the Saracchi family workshop. The mount, including the statuette of Hercules by the sculptor Michele Mazzafirri, was executed in Florence, probably in the workshop of Francesco I de’ Medici.

Hercules, considered the mythological founder of Florence, was a symbol that had been adopted by the Medici family since the fifteenth century. The colourful blue and green enamel face of the hydra, slain by Hercules as one of his twelve labours, is effectively accompanied by a set of seven rubies, one for each of the monster’s heads.

The workshop of the Saracchi family in Milan specialized in bird-shaped vessels and grotesque imagery that were carved in rock crystal from the nearby Alps, or in other semiprecious stones. This rock crystal vase is held together by gold and enamel mounts, its flanks engraved with hunting scenes. “Herons,” as they were called in inventories, occasionally had genuine heron feathers on their heads.

The flask is in the form of a pair of coupled seashells, fastened together by a wide band of gold decorated with acanthus leaves and pearls, a cameo representing the head of a female Moor is set centrally, in a gold mount of scroll motifs with enamel decorations and rubies.

The main theme of the piece is that of the seashell, which is connected with the French Royal House from an heraldic point of view. The commission for it probably came from a member of the French royalty.

On the flask a cameo representing the head of a female Moor is set centrally, in a gold mount of scroll motifs with enamel decorations and rubies.

The vase stands on a circular foot, with engraved gold band and enameled racemes, decorated with three pearls and three rubies. The stem, which has two connecting joints in gold, decorated with floral motifs in opaque and translucent enamels, supports a shell-shaped cup with an elaborate dragon-shaped lid, with head, wings and tails carved all round and secured to the body with gold ligatures. The dragon’s back is carved with another fantastic animal in relief. It is similar to a dolphin and acts as a handhold on the lid.

This elegant piece is thought to be the work of the Saracchi workshop in Milan. Expert crystal cutters and goldsmiths, the Saracchi brothers (Giovanni Ambrogio, Simone, Stefano, Michele, and Raffaello) were engaged in creating elaborate vases with extravagant shapes of birds, fish and fantastic animals that were greatly appreciated at the elegant Italian courts of the Gonzaga, Medici and Savoy families.