IMPORTANT gilt silver (vermeil) HANAP (PRONKBEKER) OF THE "D - Lot 206

IMPORTANT gilt silver (vermeil) HANAP (PRONKBEKER) OF THE "DE HEILIGE GEEST" CHAMBER OF RETHORICS in the form of a covered chalice-type bowl worked in repoussé and chased. The lid features an eagle with outstretched wings, on an orb engraved with the inscription "myn werck is hemelick" (Translation: "My work is celestial", guild motto) resting on a baluster emerging from the lid base. The cup with two bulges is engraved on the rim with the inscription: "Desen Cop is ghemaeckt van prysen ghewonnen by die van dese ghilde 1661" (Translation: "This cup was made as a prize won by those of this guild 1661"). Central frieze with issant cherubs' heads. Three hanging handles at the base. Leg with three-handled knot, ringlets and circular foot with repoussé fruit cartouches. Four inscribed punctuation marks on the bowl's outer rim: Crowned lion's head and Gothic B for the city of Bruges, date letter C for 1660/1661 and unidentified master silversmith. Flanders, Bruges, 17th century, 1661. Height: 39.9 cm - Total gross weight: 596 g. (Very good overall condition) €15,000 - €20,000 PROVENANCE - Ignace-Joseph Pardo de Frémicourt (1720 - 1792), chief man of the De Heilige Geest (Holy Spirit) chamber of rhetoric from 1773 to his death, appointed sire of the said chamber in 1782 - Passed by descent to the Counts of Lichtervelde to the present day. BIBLIOGRAPHY J. Gailliard, Bruges et le Franc ou leur magistrature et leur noblesse avec des données historiques et généalogiques sur chaque famille - Tome II, 1858. p. 305. The motto inscribed on the orb of the hanap lid, "Myn werck is hemelick", translated today as "My work is celestial", could be translated in old Dutch as "My work is secret" or "My work is hidden". This is the motto of the De Heilige Geest rhetoric chamber in Bruges, as one of its coats of arms in the Musea Brugge specifies [N° 0000. GRO1306.I]. The De Heilige Geest (Holy Spirit) rhetorical chamber in Bruges is one of the oldest and most influential literary societies in the Old Netherlands, and was founded in the early 15th century at a time when rhetorical chambers (rederijkerskamers) were flourishing in Flemish cities. These associations brought together lovers of poetry, theater and music, and played an active role in public ceremonies, religious processions and literary competitions. The first known public performance of the chamber took place in 1442 on the Place du Burg, in front of Bruges town hall. This precious object, reputedly kept in the family of the Counts of Lichtervelde since time immemorial, surely entered the family in the 18th century in the person of their grandfather Ignace Joseph Pardo de Frémicourt (1720 - 1792). Indeed, the latter played a particularly important role in the De Heilige Geest chamber of rhetoric, of which he was "chef-homme" from 1773 until his death, and appointed "sire" on January 14, 1782. Pardo was also lord of Frémicourt, Bilandrie, Bencourt, Flines, Evin and Lambres, provost of the Confrérie du Saint-Sang in 1775, and successively councillor, alderman and burgomaster of Bruges. In 1751, he married a Miss Triest from a prominent Bruges family, from whom he had descendants. In 1759, the painter Matthijs De Visch (1701 - 1765) painted a portrait of Ignatius Pardo, now in the Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges (voogdenkamer).