Cup with handles adorned with griffin heads, probably French, 17th century. Photo: Sotheby's.

agate, with silver gilt mounts; 7.3cm., 2 7/8 in. Estimation  2,000 — 3,000 GBP

The silver griffin heads flanking this charming little agate cup are conceived similarly to the creatures which form the handles of two rock crystal cups carved in Milan around 1685 by Giovanni Battista Metellino in the Louvre (inv. nos. MR 480 and MR 295). Creamy brown agate was much sought after in the 17th and 18th centuries. Note the analagous small Parisian agate cup in the Louvre, which was carved around 1650 (inv. no. MR 238). 

RELATED LITERATURE: D. Alcouffe, Les Gemmes de la Couronne, exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2001, pp. 414-415, 471-473, nos. 198, 241, 242 

Sotheby's. Collections. London | 24 sept. 2013 - http://www.sothebys.com