Prayer Nut with The Nativity and The Adoration of the Magi

A small prayer nut in a silver casing, consisting of two miniature reliefs of the Nativity of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi. Both reliefs are of boxwood and mounted in two hinged silver half-spheres with a clasp and a small chain. The silver sphere is entirely decorated with extremely refined Gothic engraving: on one side animals among leaves (a monkey, a dog, an owl and other birds), on the other side five figures: Eve, a man digging in the ground with a shovel, a man with a falcon, a man standing in the water and a man with a poker and fire. They are representations of the Four Elements (earth, air, water and fire) and possibly also different social classes. The animals represent the 'inverted world' of lust and evil. Around the silver sphere is a twisted wire of pale gold, while on the top and bottom a gold rosette is present.