Agate bowls in the collections of museums around the world

Agate bowl with a gold-rimmed lid decorated with enamel and rubies, height 19 cm. 1640-1650, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera. Agate bowls.

Agate bowl with a gold-rimmed lid decorated with enamel, height 16.8 cm, Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624). Milan, early 17th century, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera.

Grass agate bowl (Bohemia) depicting Triton, in gold frame, decorated with enamel, height 17 cm, Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624), Prague, around 1600, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera.

Agate bowl with a lid in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, height 14.5 cm, Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624), Prague, circa 1610-1615, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera

Bowl with a lid in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, height 14.5 cm, Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624). Prague, circa 1610-1615, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera.

Agate bowl with a lid in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, height 20 cm, Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624), Prague, circa 1603-1607. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera

Agate bowl with a lid surmounted by a figure of Mars, in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, height 19 cm, Southern Germany, circa 1600. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Kunstkamera

Agate bowl, in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, master Mikhail Perkhin (1860-1903), Faberge firm, 7.7 x 7.2 x 1.6 cm, St. Petersburg, late 19th century, from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Bowl, in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, master Mikhail Perkhin (1860-1903), Faberge firm, 7.7 x 7.2 x 1.6 cm, St. Petersburg. 19th century, from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Agate goblet with a lid in a gilded silver frame, decorated with enamel, rubies and diamonds, height 18 cm, Jeremiah Siebenbürger (c. 1583-1659). Augsburg, Germany, circa 1650, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Agate bowl on stand, Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century, 13 cm high, China, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

17th century agate cup in a gold frame, diameter 8.3 cm, Russia, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Moss agate bowl with enamelled silver frame, 14 cm high, Southern Germany, circa 1600, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Agate vase, circa 400 AD. e. in a gold frame of the early 19th century, decorated with enamel, height 21 cm, British Museum, London.

Shell bowl in variegated agate, framed in gold, decorated with enamel, workshop of Ottavio Miseroni, Milan, circa 1600, with a later setting, British Museum, London.

Oval tazza of variegated agate in a gold setting, decorated with enamel and precious stones, height 13 cm. France, British Museum, London.

Agate chalice with lid surmounted by a figure of a Bacchante, in a gilded silver frame by Aldridge or John Harris, 15 cm high, Britain, 1815-1820, V&A Museum, London

Chalice with lid surmounted by a figure of a Bacchante, in a gilded silver frame by Aldridge or John Harris, 15 cm high, Britain, 1815-1820, V&A Museum, London.

Agate bowl in a gilded silver frame, height 15 cm, Germany, 19th century, V&A Museum, London.

Agate goblet with a renaissance lid in a silver gilt frame by James Aldridge (Britain) decorated with chalcedony and rubies, height 24 cm, 1815-1816, V&A Museum, London.

Oval agate bowl, 16 x 11 cm, Cambay (Khambhat), India circa 1850, V&A Museum, London.

Tazza, in a gilded silver frame decorated with polychrome enamel. 12 cm high, probably Charles Duron, circa 1865, V&A Museum, London.

Agate tazza in the form of a shell supported by a dragon and a tortoise. 14 cm high, circa 1875, V&A Museum, London.

Agate goblet with a lid in a gilded silver frame, decorated with enamel, rubies and diamonds, height 18 cm. France, mid-17th century, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Bowl made of Urazov jasper (“meat agate”) with handles in the form of intertwined snakes made of gilded bronze, height 28.5 cm, Imperial Yekaterinburg Lapidary Factory. Russia, 1804, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Two-handled agate bowl in a gilded silver frame decorated with almandines, craftsman Eric August Collin (1836-1901). Carl Faberge firm, height 6 cm, Russia, 1880s, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Agate bowl in the shape of a shell in a gilded bronze frame, height 13 cm, Luigi Valadier (1726-1785). Italy, 1770s, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Agate bowl in the shape of a shell in a gilded silver frame, decorated with enamel, height 11 cm, Holy Roman Empire, Prague (?). early 17th century, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Agate bowl in a gilded silver frame, height 22.5 cm, made by Daniel Mayer, Augsburg, Germany, second half of the 17th century, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Bowl in a gilded silver frame, height 22.5 cm, made by Daniel Mayer, Augsburg. Germany, second half of the 17th century, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Agate bowl in the shape of a shell in a gold frame, decorated with enamel, emeralds, sapphires, hessonite garnet, height 11 cm, Western Europe. 17th century, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Agate bowl in a silver frame, decorated with enamel, height 14 cm, Southern Germany, circa 1600, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Neo-Renaissance agate shell-shaped bowl, studded with precious stones and enameled figure of the sea deity Triton with a team of two dolphins. 19th century, height 20 cm, Walters Museum, Baltimore (USA).

Ceremonial bowl of the late Baroque period (1697-1722), made by the Dresden jeweler Johann Melchior Dinglinger (1664-1731) from agate, gold, silver, enamel, diamonds and semi-precious stones, height 29 cm, Walters Museum, Baltimore (USA)

Ceremonial bowl of the late Baroque period (1697-1722), made by the Dresden jeweler Johann Melchior Dinglinger (1664-1731). Agate, gold, silver, enamel, diamonds and semi-precious stones, height 29 cm, Walters Museum, Baltimore (USA).