Lot n° 174
Estimation :
4000 - 6000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 27 694EUR
Large engraved mother-of-pearl shell decorated in honor of t - Lot 174
Large engraved mother-of-pearl shell decorated in honor of the sending of the Berretone and Stocco to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Emmanuel Pinto, by Pope Benedict XIV in 1747.
Large engraved mother-of-pearl shell with partial cameo depicting the Grand Master, seated on a throne, in a black robe and mantle of Religion adorned with the eight-pointed cross, surmounted by a canopy decorated with his coat of arms supported by two putti and topped by a closed crown. Arms resting on scrolled armrests, face turned to the right, he gazes at a royal crown with eight closed arches topped by a cruciferous orb, placed next to a scepter or baton of command on a table with an agitated base. At its feet, four black slaves face each other, their arms linked behind their backs. On either side of the canopy, a curtained, architectural vaulted décor reveals: on the left, a fleet composed of a double-decker ship and four galleys of the Order in front of an oriental fort; on the right, a dead man under a lamp, the symbol featured on the Order's counter-seal. It is set in a bronze band engraved with the legend F. DON. EMMANUEL. PINTO. MELITÆ. PRINCEPS. S.R.I.M.M. REGIA. CORONA. SACRISQVE. PILEO. ET. ENSE.
A. SVMMO. PONTIFICE. DECORATVS. M.DCCXLVII.(Fra Don Emmanuel Pinto, Prince of Malta, Grand Master of the sacred
Religion, decorated by the Sovereign Pontiff with a royal crown, hat and blessed estoc in 1747). The back of the shell is engraved with a poetic dedication in Latin by Fra Francesco Caterino de Nobili to the Grand Master.
The shell and headband are mounted on an openwork brass plate cut in the shape of scrolls, decorated with mother-of-pearl engraved with foliage and partially red-tinted flags of the Order, forming a wide frame resting on two canons and adorned at the top with two knotted laurel branches on which rests the Stocco surmounted by the Berretone framed by two flaming trumpets in the colors of the Order. Above, a black satin bow, adorned with an eight-pointed white cross, holds the ensemble in an elongated octagonal box covered with black lacquered paper embossed with branch decoration, the corners raised with a gilded paper border decorated with fleurons and palmettes, the lid charged with a white Maltese cross edged with gilded paper. Remains of an old inventory label, N21.
Wear, minor scattered damage to mother-of-pearl and lid.
Shell diameter: 13.2 cm, frame diameter: 15.2 cm
Case dimensions: 37 x 32 cm
Italy, Trapani (?), mid 18th century.
Important engraved mother-of-pearl shell decorated in honor of the sending of the Berretone and Stocco to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Emmanuel Pinto, by Pope Benedict XIV in 1747
D. of the shell: 5 3/16 in - D. of the frame: 6 in
Dimensions of the case: 14 1/2 x 12 3/4 in
Italy, Malta, mid-18th century
1230(B) CH
Exhibition:
- La Provence et l'Ordre de Malte, Marseille, May-June 1981, Gap, July-August 1981, no. 59.
The Berretone, the ducal hat, and the Stocco, the blessed estoc, were pontifical marks of honor in use since the 14th century. Blessed on Christmas Eve by the Pope, they were then presented to a Dux, sovereign and military leader: emperor, king or prince, as a token of thanks or emulation. If they were not awarded within the year, they were blessed again the following year, while awaiting a deserving Dux. Shaped like a rounded cylinder with a double visor and two dewlaps, the hat was made of gold-embroidered velvet and decorated with a large pearl dove representing the Holy Spirit. The estoc was a two-handed long sword, the handle highly ornate, the blade engraved with the Pontiff's name and date of blessing, the scabbard also in gold-embroidered velvet. The highest pontifical military award, only six Berretone and Stocco were issued in the 18th century, four of them to grandmasters of the Order of Malta. The first three are known with certainty: Antonio Manoel Vilhena in 1725, Manuel Pinto de Fonseca in 1747 and Francisco Ximenes de Texada in 1774. The fourth attribution is attested only by the presence in the Order's collections of a ducal hat and a estoc bénit dated 1775, with no written relation. They may have been presented to Emmanuel de Rohan Polduc in 1775 or, more likely, to Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim in 1798.
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