A gold-mounted rock crystal bowl, late 16th Century.

The tri-lobed bowl is carved with acanthus leaves and vine-leaf decoration inhabited by insects; the gold mounts decorated with ivy leaves, 8.3cm high, 10cm wide. It is thought to have been made in either Prague or Italy.
The bowl appears in the 1690 Devonshire Schedule, an inventory recording an immense bequest from Elizabeth, Countess of Devonshire to her daughter Anne, Countess of Exeter. Under ‘Christalls Garnisht and plaine’ appears: ‘A wrought Christall Cup Triangular with an ovall ffoot sett togeather and Garnisht with Gold’.