Rock crystal vase

The Eleanor of Aquitaine vase, in the Louvre, Paris.

A rock crystal vase is a vase made of rock crystal, a type of hardstone carving. Such vases were rare, expensive, and decorated with gold and jewels, used by royalty in Europe.

Eleanor of Aquitaine's vase

A rock crystal vase {fr} with honeycomb decoration that probably originated from either the Sassanid (6th-7th century) or post-Sassanid (9th-10th century) period that was given to Duke William IX of Aquitaine (the Troubadour) by a Muslim ally (Abd al-Malik Imad ad-Dawla^[1] as referred in Latinised form as Mitadolus on the inscription). When Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, William IX's granddaughter, married King Louis VII of France in 1137, she gave him the rock crystal vase as a wedding present. The inscription finally says that the king gave it to Suger,^[2] who in turn offered it to the saints, to be kept at the Abbey of St.-Denis which he had rebuilt. The vase is now in the Louvre in Paris, and is the only artefact of Eleanor's known to exist today.

Mary I and Philip II's vase

Another was a crystal and gold posset that the Spanish ambassador gave Queen Mary I of England and Philip of Spain as a betrothal gift. It was made by Benvenuto Cellini and the whole set is now on display at Hatfield House in England.

Notes

^ G.T. Beech, The Eleanor of Aquitaine Vase, William IX of Aquitaine, and Muslim Spain, in Gesta 32 (1993), pp. 3-10.
^ Reported by Suger that it was offered to him "in magno amoris munere," or "as a tribute of his great love." From Panofsky's translation of Suger's De Administratione, p. 79.

External links

The Eleanor Vase Images of Medieval Art and Architecture
Vase d’Aliénor at the Louvre.

[1] G.T. Beech, The Eleanor of Aquitaine Vase, William IX of Aquitaine, and Muslim Spain, in Gesta 32 (1993), pp. 3-10.

[2] Reported by Suger that it was offered to him "in magno amoris munere," or "as a tribute of his great love." From Panofsky's translation of Suger's De Administratione, p. 79.

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