A Dutch silver-gilt standing cup, Christoffel Visscher, Utrecht, 1657

embossed throughout with vinery and grapes, the tendrils of the bowl enclosing the destruction of Sodom, The mocking of Noah, The spies Joshua and Kaleb and The bunch of grapes from Canaan, the foot further embossed with four medallions representing Christ in the winepress, The wedding in Kana, The Last Supper and Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, marked at the bowl

Fully marked below the bowl. The gilding of the lower part overall reasonably good, some top parts worn. The bowl (not gilded) later added with a broad rim. And later chased with three crests. Overall a good looking large standing cup.
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Christoffel Visscher was one of the Dutch silversmiths that excelled in the use of decorative chasing. He probably made this chalice for one of the clandestine churches of the city of Utrecht.

The chalice is finely decorated with vine tendrils. The foot contains four medallions with representations of The destruction of Sodom, The mocking of Noah, The spies Joshua and Kaleb and The bunch of grapes from Canaan. Visscher often used this last theme in the liturgical objects he made. The stories represented on the foot of the chalice are from the Old Testament. The stem of the chalice has three knops which are embossed with vine tendrils. The grapevines and bunches of grapes with which the bowl of the chalice are decorated, symbolise the Eucharist. Between the grapevines there are four medallions with representations from the New Testament. They depict Christ in the winepress, The wedding in Kana, The Last Supper and Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.

The plain part of the bowl contains three English crests. These crests were added later and show that the chalice was moved to England, probably in the nineteenth century.

It is very plausible that the chalice is in fact a ciborium from which the cover has disappeared. From its size and Christian motifs we can presume that the chalice was used for ecclesiastical purposes.

Christoffel Visscher was probably influenced by silversmiths from the South of the Netherlands. It is a known fact that the Utrecht archbishop Phillipus Rovenius consecrated 120 new chalices from 1646 to 1650. The majority of these chalices were made in the South. Visscher was also influenced by the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert and his sons, the engravers Frederik and Cornelis.

Literature:
Louise van de Berg-Hoogterp and Jacob J. Roosjen, De Utrechtse zilversmid Christoffel Jansz. Visscher en zijn werk voor de schuilkerken in de jaren 1656 tot 1659, Antiek, jrg. 21-3, pp.145-53.