Italian 1940s Crystal Bowl, Milan, circa 1940

The rounded bowl narrows and rests on a flared foot with a polygonal section in blue crystal. The bowl itself is crafted in transparent crystal and continues the polygonal motif. The base of the bowl is decorated with a series of engraved blue arches which somewhat overlap creating a corolla and with five vertical cusps of the same colour. The rim is accented with a triple cut line around the entire circumference.
A silver band representing a currant branch wraps the “waist” where the foot joins the bowl with currants made of orange coral.

The bowl features the following marks along the silver band which defines its narrowing towards the foot. These help us date the work:
1) a lozenge with the abbreviation of the province (MI); Roman fasces; the number 08. This was the mark in force after the promulgation of the law of 5 February 1934 n. 305, which provided for the use of a uniform mark for the identification of the silversmith and of the province. In this case it is the Milanese smith Eliseo Mangili during the period 1935-1944.
2) 800 without a border. Title in thousandths of silver.

Eliseo Mangili was one of the most talented goldsmiths flanking Alfredo Ravasco (1873-1958) in his activity until the 1920s. After the experience of the Libyan war and the Great War, he decided to continue his career independently by opening a laboratory in Milan first in Via Filodrammatici, then in via del Lauro, and finally in via dei Bossi. He always kept in touch with Ravasco, who was among his best customers. In 1963 he opened a shop in Via Manzoni 24 after participating in the Italian Jewelry Exhibition in Paris in 1962. He died in Milan in 1977. (See: Melissa Gabardi, Il gioiello italiano del XX secolo, Catalogo della mostra al Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano, 24 November 2016-2020 marzo 2017, p. 316).