Agate Bowl

The Agate Bowl (German: Achatschale) is a hardstone carving in the shape of a bowl cut out of a single piece of agate, possibly in the fourth century at the court of Constantine, and now displayed in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.

[1][2] In 1564, Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II and his brothers declared it by deed to be an "inalienable heirloom of the house of Austria".

[1][2] The Agate Bowl dates from the fourth century and is believed to have been created at the court of Constantine.

In 1619, an inventory of the estate of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias records, "the word KRISTO is to be seen in quite large letters in the nature of the stone".

In 1951, after the relic was restored, the inscription was reinterpreted by art historian Rudolf Egger to read ARISTO, the name of the stone cutter.