1797

1715 Fleet Ornate gold ampulla 245.6 grams, approx. 20K, pedigreed to the 2003 "Tampa sale," lot

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:25,000.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
1715 Fleet Ornate gold ampulla 245.6 grams, approx. 20K, pedigreed to the 2003  Tampa sale,  lot
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This item SOLD at 2012 Oct 26 @ 21:17UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Ornate gold ampulla for anointing, 245.6 grams, approx. 20K, pedigreed to the 2003 "Tampa sale," lot 9 (most important item in that auction). About 5" tall and 2-1/2" at its widest. No shipwreck object of this size could be lovelier, as its entire egg-shaped body and flared top is very ornately engraved, as are also two small, S-shaped handles and four hinged (flexible, probably removable) side-supporters, resting atop an eight-lobed base, with significant areas of white coral encrustation. The glass interior of course is long gone, but the open sides show that it was necessary to see the purity and amount of the liquid, and inside the top there is a thin neck where a stopper probably went. While the purpose of this clearly important piece was a mystery both in the 1980s when it was found and in 2003 when we appraised it for the federal government, further research for the present auction shows that it had to be a vessel for holding holy oil used in catholic ceremonies, in particular for the anointing of a new king or queen. For that reason it is now believed this piece (along with the recently found "pelican in piety") were part of the "Queen's Jewels" documented to have been aboard the 1715 Fleet for the new Spanish queen, Elisabeth of Parma, whom Philip V married at the end of 1714, shortly after the death of his first wife earlier that same year. The word "priceless" comes to mind. In custom wooden box, with lot-tag from the 2003 "Tampa sale" of 1715-fleet coins and artifacts. Recovered from: Spanish 1715 Fleet, east coast of Florida