Rock Crystal Decorative Bowls

By Helmut Wolf (*1940 Idar Oberstein), German gemstone cutter and artist whose works were presented on the occasion of state visits to, among others: Queen Elisabeth II, President Ji...

Beautiful Rock Crystal Bow, Beautiful white and light brown,

Vintage Italian Rock Crystal Hand Carved Bowl . Wonderful transparent crystal. Great weight and great design. Measures approx - 8w x 10d x5h

Beautiful rock crystal bowl mounted in silver with a floral / vine pattern.

A beautiful all natural rock crystal bowl, hand carved and polished. Fine AAA gemstone grade genuine rock crystal with rare gold rutile. Of organic form with beautiful translucency a...

Rock crystal vessels were highly demanded and valuable in Medieval times. Inventories from European royal houses and the highest aristocratic families detail the important and sophisticated collections of ewers and bowls. Rock crystal has also been used extensively in religious art. Fine European reliquaries were also made of Rock Crystal including gems, enamel and other precious materials. The work of rock crystal is very ancient. The materials has been worked and valued for its solidity and its purity: it has been believed to be water ice permanently frozen. Our superb example is a gold-mounted rock crystal bowl with enamel. The items origin is not clear and various features and characteristics may lead us to think of different origins and periods of creation. A single piece of stone mounted with gold could be a Milanese work. Although the cut could be French as similar pieces belonged to the French royalty (especially the art lover Duc de Berry, (1340-1416)). French and Italian crystal cutters have been active at the same time and it is often difficult to differentiate their works. Islamic art also influenced European artists. The famous Fatimid treasury provided examples of their sophistication and quality. The seven ewers carved for the Fatimid Imans (known as "The Magnificent Seven") display impressive quality of both rock crystal and enamelled mounts. Even though not identical to works by French silversmith Jean-Valentin Morel who was appointed goldsmith to Queen Victoria in 1852 or Reinhold Vasters (1927-1909) another renown German goldsmith who embellished older rock crystal items, there are similarities between these works. Both reduce their use of colour to black and white on pure gold mounts. Moreover the black enamel design is quite similar. Also, no gems are included and no human figure is represented. Sotherby's described our bowl as a "German Rock crystal bowl with later gold mounts, 15th century." Other items from the period from Germany or Austria are usually silver mounted and the decorations are more colourful and include gems or human figures but they have in common enamel motifs. In our case, the gold foot, handles and rim could date from the 1900s. An expert has established the foot, handles and rim are pure gold. The goldsmith responsible for the improvement of the bowl is possibly the most famous Reinhold Vasters whose work has been displayed in the greatest museums such as the V&A in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Rock Crystal bowl we have is gold mounted. The gold shows in enamelled details that are black and white. The gold handles are also enamelled with black acanthus-like leaves. The enamelling method could be "champleve" or "painting metal". The metal that is usually preferred is copper but these techniques are also applied to gold. The bowl itself could be from the 14th century. It's cut reminds of an estimated 14th century rock crystal ball bearing the Buoncompagni family arms...

A stunning mid century pair of mineral cranes, carved from quartz / rock crystal, with brass legs and beaks, and mounted on a base of orange calcite and...

A wonderful pair of Mid-Century Modern rock crystal round natural smoke, grey, tea color quartz centerpieces each sold separately.

A wonderful pair of Mid-Century Modern large rock crystal round natural rose / pink quartz centerpieces Each sold separately.

Magnificent on of a kind hand carved rock crystal and smokey rock crystal scalloped center piece in a form of an oval bowl, with carved handle on each side. Excellent quality quartz ...

Pink rock crystal center piece, beautiful pink Brazilian centerpiece handmade.

Beautiful large lavender color rock crystal decorative piece, handcrafted from Brazil.

Exquisite pair of modern style high quality hand carved and hand polished rock crystal bowls. These matchless pieces of rock crystal are hand carved and hand polished from all natur...

One of a kind modern style hand carved and hand polished rock crystal fish form dish platter, late 20th century.