Silver Altar Cross, France 18th Century. Around 1743

This old altar cross is made of embossed silver, engraved, chiseled and guilloché. It rests on a rectangular pyramidal base with four flattened ball feet. The lower part of the base is decorated all around with acanthus leaves alternating with water leaves. The guilloché base has four slightly concave faces. It is decorated with instruments of passion, acanthus scrolls and four-leaf rosettes both on the front side and on the opposite side, the two side sides are chiselled with bunches of grapes. The stem, of circular section, bears a curved knot, framed by rings; it is topped with a gadrooned base. The uprights of the cross are rectilinear, of rectangular section, with thickness. The ends of the cross are decorated with a bud of acanthus flowers. Christ on the cross is depicted with his head leaning to the right, his right knee bent and his feet nailed together. France 18th century, Louis Note: the presence of restorations which have preserved the beauty and solidity of this work, as well as all its original components from this distant era. ** Jacques Helft / the hallmarks of the Provinces / page 277