Since the royal kitchens were far removed from the royal dining room, dish covers were needed to keep the bowls of food warm, and to make sure no one put poison in the King's food. The particular dish cover seen in this picture is only one of the many jewel-studded dish covers in the treasury. They are all shaped the same, with a broad lip that covered the dish, and a dome-shaped center which acted as a handle. The dish cover is made of solid gold. Eight pearls surrounding a diamond decorate the very top of the dish cover. The rest of item is studded with emeralds, spinels, diamonds and rubies.
The diameter of the dish cover is 19 cm. and its height is 10 cm. The largest four rubies are 12 cts. each, the largest emerald is 30 cts., and the largest spinel is 25 cts.
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