A Relief-Cut Bowl from Besalú (Girona, Spain)

Abstract

Among the treasures of the Museu d'Art in Girona is a colorless relief-cut bowl decorated with two pairs of birds. The bowl was found in 1936 in the church of Sant Vicenç at Besalú in the comarca(district)of Garrotxa, northeastern Catalonia (Spain).It is usually attributed to the ninth or 10th century. over the years, it has been identified as both rock crystal and glass, and as "Hispano-Arab" and Iranian. This article describes the bowl (which is certainly made of glass and the circumstances of its discovery. It also discusses where the bowl was made and when it may have been taken to Besalú.