A fine syringe with beautifully worked silver made in Germany in the early 17th century.

This type of intricate decoration was done by highly skilled craftsmen in the lowlands of Germany on hand operated lathes hundreds of years before Holtzapfel’s rose engine lathe made the geometrical designs of ornamental turning fashionable.

The hallmark “CL” set in an open book has not been identified. A syringe of identical design is in the Germanic National Museum at Nuremberg (See last picture). That same syringe is also shown in Ernst Königer’s ‘Aus der Geschichte der Heilkunst’ published by Prestel Verlag München in 1958.

• From the Phisick collection