Green Bloodstone Bowl

Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624) was the foremost stone carver at the court of Emperor Rudolf II. A telltale sign of his work is the asymmetrical shape combined with exquisite mountings of gold, silver and enamel. This bowl, made of bloodstone (heliotrope) in the Skokloster collection is attributed to Miseroni and might very well be from the looting of Prague in 1648, when the Swedish troops pillaged the Emperor’s castle.