Calice en vermeil par Bonaventura Grübel, Lindau, vers 1580

Clear marks, normal wear along leading edges; tiny spots where mercury gilding has bubbled, generally good condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Voir le livre de Werner Schmidt, Lindau Goldschmiedemarken: neue Forschungsergebnisse, Weltkunst/Heft 2, February 1998, pp. 315-317, pour des modèles avec le poinçon de Landau. Le propriétaire actuel a identifié le poinçon de maître comme étant celui de Bonaventura Grübel qui était en 1599 le grand-garde (Obmann) de la corporation des orfèvres de la ville. Cela signifie qu'il était maître orfèvre depuis quelques temps déjà et permet donc de dater ce calice vers 1580. D'autre part, au vu de son décor, il est fort probable que ce calice fût réalisé pour les rites catholiques, peut-être même précisément pour l'Abbaye de Lindau, maison de canonnesses laïques qui, par autorisation impériale, fut autorisée à conserver sa religion et à devenir de factola seule institution catholique dans la ville protestante de Lindau. 

See: Werner Schmidt, Lindau Goldschmiedemarken: neue Forschungsergebnisse,Weltkunst/Heft 2, February 1998, pp. 315-317, for examples of Lindau town marks. Private research by the owner has identified the maker's maker as that of Bonaventura Grübel, who by 1599 was prime warden (Obmann) of the Lindau goldsmiths guild, recorded signing the rules of the guild in that year. He would have been a master for some time prior to that, hence the circa dating of this chalice, which on stylistic grounds appears to be a catholic chalice of an earlier period. It seems quite probable that the chalice was made for Lindau abbey, a house of secular cannonesses, who with a grant of Imperial Immediacy were allowed to remain catholic, in fact remaining the only catholic establishment in an otherwise Protestant Lindau.