Fruit or Sweetmeat Basket

Hester Bateman, London, England

1777-1778

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Papal medallion cast, Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644), reigned as pope from 6 August 1623 to his death in 1644. He expanded the papal territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts and a reformer of Church missions. However, the massive debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors, who were unable to maintain the papacy's longstanding political and military influence in Europe. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign. He is the most recent pope to date to take the pontifical name of Urban upon being elected as pope.
Obverse: Bust of Rudolph Brandes (1795-1832) front.
Heavy rectangular inkwell of cast iron resting on a total of ten block feet, the base in the form of a Gothic architectural structure comprised on each long side of a colonnade of three ogee arches and on each short side of two ogee arches with blind Gothic trefoils, crockets, and leafy finials with small battlements in between, each corner a kind of shield with leafy motifs, the inkwell proper with two openings for sand and ink (the glass inserts now missing) with covers decorated with organic motifs and stylized leaf finials, in the middle a central well with tapered and fluted body and leafy lip and foot (the cover is missing).
Bust almost front, the head in profile left.