Silverware and Goldware
See also : Archaic China Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire Russia 1700-1900 Colonial America Ancient England
Chronology : 1610-1619 1680-1699 1700-1719 1770-1779 1820-1829
Chronology : 1610-1619 1680-1699 1700-1719 1770-1779 1820-1829
Tang Silverware
2008 SOLD 1.6 M£ including premium
On May 14, Sotheby's presents in London a one-of-its-kind collection formed at the beginning of last century, and one wants to believe well when they say to us that there is not any similar group. It is true that considered from here one does not think inevitably of silverware when one speaks about Tang art.
It is indeed a collection of Chinese gilt-silver pieces of Tang dynasty.
The most important lot, presented as the entry in the press release of Sotheby' s, is a beautiful parcel-gilt silver bowl estimated 350 K£, while a covered bowl is awaited at 300 K£. Of course, these estimates seem below reality.
Other pieces of silver or gold, less important, from the Tang and Song dynasties, are also announced.
Let us remind that the Tang dynasty corresponds to years 618 to 906 of the Western calendar. While referring to the same calendar, almost the totality of the French silverware was molten under Louis XIV reign. What we see at Sotheby's is thus one millenium former to our older parts of silverware!
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, and the name of the purchaser of the more expensive lot, confirm that these pieces of Tang silverware deserve truly the qualification of "exceptional".
Bought by Eskenazi Ltd, the covered bowl which was estimated 300 K£ was sold 1,6 M£ fees included.
The other bowl, estimated 300 K£, reached 1,15 M£ fees included.
It is indeed a collection of Chinese gilt-silver pieces of Tang dynasty.
The most important lot, presented as the entry in the press release of Sotheby' s, is a beautiful parcel-gilt silver bowl estimated 350 K£, while a covered bowl is awaited at 300 K£. Of course, these estimates seem below reality.
Other pieces of silver or gold, less important, from the Tang and Song dynasties, are also announced.
Let us remind that the Tang dynasty corresponds to years 618 to 906 of the Western calendar. While referring to the same calendar, almost the totality of the French silverware was molten under Louis XIV reign. What we see at Sotheby's is thus one millenium former to our older parts of silverware!
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, and the name of the purchaser of the more expensive lot, confirm that these pieces of Tang silverware deserve truly the qualification of "exceptional".
Bought by Eskenazi Ltd, the covered bowl which was estimated 300 K£ was sold 1,6 M£ fees included.
The other bowl, estimated 300 K£, reached 1,15 M£ fees included.
1580-1650 Mythology in the Taste of Cellini
2016 SOLD for £ 1.06M including premium
Baron Lionel de Rothschild reveals an extravagant piece of luxury silverware at the London World Exhibition in 1862. This enameled gold cup that has no known history had probably been collected by his grandfather. It is identified as the Orpheus Cup. It is made of three parts : cover, bowl and stem, for an overall 18 cm high.
The cover sculpted in the round (en ronde bosse) is a burgeoning scene on the theme of Mount Parnassus, dominated by Diane and Orpheus and supplemented by putti and animals charmed by the lyre of the musician. The stem shows Atlas kneeling on a mound inhabited by reptiles. In between, the two sides of the bowl are decorated in an enamel paint, respectively with a scene from Ovid and a hunting scene.
According to the sensitivity of the mid-nineteenth century, this cup should be attributed to Benvenuto Cellini with several arguments : the mythology, the extreme density of the characters, the use of enamel on gold. Shortly after the Exhibition, Baron Lionel waives this attribution.
The habit of melting the old silverware leaves very few comparative elements to define the place and date of its creation and even its original use. A similarity appears however with a cup without lid preserved in the Rijksmuseum : the figure of Orpheus constituting the stem and the animals and putti surrounding the poet have probably the same origin as the corresponding elements of the Orpheus Cup.
The solution to this mystery is not found but will come from the new assumption that the three parts are composite, which is quite plausible for a piece of silverware.
A mark on another enameled bowl that also offers some similarities leads to an origin in Augsburg in the mid seventeenth century, a period consistent with the iconography of the bowl but too recent for the ronde bosse. It is possible that a South German craftsman had gathered the current cover and stem of the Orpheus Cup along with the current stem of the Rijksmuseum cup and assembled the two bowls around 1650 with these elements made circa 1580 by one of his predecessors.
The Rothschild Orpheus Cup is estimated £ 600K for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 6, lot 8.
The cover sculpted in the round (en ronde bosse) is a burgeoning scene on the theme of Mount Parnassus, dominated by Diane and Orpheus and supplemented by putti and animals charmed by the lyre of the musician. The stem shows Atlas kneeling on a mound inhabited by reptiles. In between, the two sides of the bowl are decorated in an enamel paint, respectively with a scene from Ovid and a hunting scene.
According to the sensitivity of the mid-nineteenth century, this cup should be attributed to Benvenuto Cellini with several arguments : the mythology, the extreme density of the characters, the use of enamel on gold. Shortly after the Exhibition, Baron Lionel waives this attribution.
The habit of melting the old silverware leaves very few comparative elements to define the place and date of its creation and even its original use. A similarity appears however with a cup without lid preserved in the Rijksmuseum : the figure of Orpheus constituting the stem and the animals and putti surrounding the poet have probably the same origin as the corresponding elements of the Orpheus Cup.
The solution to this mystery is not found but will come from the new assumption that the three parts are composite, which is quite plausible for a piece of silverware.
A mark on another enameled bowl that also offers some similarities leads to an origin in Augsburg in the mid seventeenth century, a period consistent with the iconography of the bowl but too recent for the ronde bosse. It is possible that a South German craftsman had gathered the current cover and stem of the Orpheus Cup along with the current stem of the Rijksmuseum cup and assembled the two bowls around 1650 with these elements made circa 1580 by one of his predecessors.
The Rothschild Orpheus Cup is estimated £ 600K for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 6, lot 8.
Discover the mysterious 400-year-old Orpheus cup in our London galleries til Wed. #Treasureshttps://t.co/LDvtPddr4n pic.twitter.com/j1jvx67ke4
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 3, 2016
1619 Republican Silver in Utrecht
2018 SOLD for $ 5.4M including premium
The Union of Utrecht gathers in 1579 the seven Protestant provinces of the northern Netherlands decided for a republican split against Spain. This region becomes extremely wealthy through the international trade of its harbors.
Sons of a silversmith in Utrecht, Adam and Paul van Vianen are artists. Paul travels and transfers the Dutch taste to Rudolf II in Prague. Adam remains in Utrecht. They create complex shapes by chasing a silver plaque of very high purity, shaping the surface into lobes that have identified their style as "auricular". The figures are modeled on wax.
The covered baluster ewer 23 cm high for sale by Christie's on April 20 in New York as lot 21 is dated 1619. It is clearly signed A. DE VIANA rather than stamped with a logo, confirming that Adam claimed the status of an artist.
Beyond a Mannerist accumulation including masks, dolphins, monsters and a beetle apparently without an overall coherence, the main theme of this ewer is the story of Marcus Curtius divided into three large roundels. The van Vianen brothers also used the themes of Mucius Scevola and Horatius Cocles for other pieces in an obvious desire to make a praise of the Republican sacrifice.
One of the greatest admirers and collectors of auricular silverware will be Rembrandt, attesting to the important influence of that style on the decorative art of the Dutch Golden Age.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Sons of a silversmith in Utrecht, Adam and Paul van Vianen are artists. Paul travels and transfers the Dutch taste to Rudolf II in Prague. Adam remains in Utrecht. They create complex shapes by chasing a silver plaque of very high purity, shaping the surface into lobes that have identified their style as "auricular". The figures are modeled on wax.
The covered baluster ewer 23 cm high for sale by Christie's on April 20 in New York as lot 21 is dated 1619. It is clearly signed A. DE VIANA rather than stamped with a logo, confirming that Adam claimed the status of an artist.
Beyond a Mannerist accumulation including masks, dolphins, monsters and a beetle apparently without an overall coherence, the main theme of this ewer is the story of Marcus Curtius divided into three large roundels. The van Vianen brothers also used the themes of Mucius Scevola and Horatius Cocles for other pieces in an obvious desire to make a praise of the Republican sacrifice.
One of the greatest admirers and collectors of auricular silverware will be Rembrandt, attesting to the important influence of that style on the decorative art of the Dutch Golden Age.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1697-1699 Hercules and Atlas in Augsburg
2010 SOLD 1.75 M€ including premium
The sale of the Yves Saint-Laurent estate in February 2009 by Christie's in Paris was a very good introduction to the silver from Augsburg. The designer had a great collection of these statuettes of animal or mythological subject, often inspired by Italian bronzes.
On April 13 the same auction house is selling in one lot estimated 600 K € two silver globes made in Augsburg between 1697 and 1699, signed by Abraham II Drentwett.
The terrestrial globe is raised by Hercules and the celestial globe by Atlas. The characters and the spheres are in silver and the circles of the globes in silver gilt, for a total height of 24 cm and a weight of 2200 grams for the set. Globes are finely carved, and their maps are consistent with the geographical and celestial knowledge of their time.
The catalog does not advertise this set as a pair, as it was originally a series of three figures, described by a publication in 1912. The statue of Saturn holding the armillary sphere has not kept pace.
POST SALE COMMENT
Augsburg silver art is unclassifiable, between the major art of sculpture and that of the highest decoration. Buyers have recognized the exceptional qualities of this pair of globes: 1.75 M € including premium.
On April 13 the same auction house is selling in one lot estimated 600 K € two silver globes made in Augsburg between 1697 and 1699, signed by Abraham II Drentwett.
The terrestrial globe is raised by Hercules and the celestial globe by Atlas. The characters and the spheres are in silver and the circles of the globes in silver gilt, for a total height of 24 cm and a weight of 2200 grams for the set. Globes are finely carved, and their maps are consistent with the geographical and celestial knowledge of their time.
The catalog does not advertise this set as a pair, as it was originally a series of three figures, described by a publication in 1912. The statue of Saturn holding the armillary sphere has not kept pace.
POST SALE COMMENT
Augsburg silver art is unclassifiable, between the major art of sculpture and that of the highest decoration. Buyers have recognized the exceptional qualities of this pair of globes: 1.75 M € including premium.
1700-1710 Silver punch bowl by Cornelius Kierstede
2010 SOLD for $ 5.9M including premium by Sotheby's
1705-1706 The Thirst of the Ambassador
2010 SOLD 2.5 M£ including premium
The piece is enormous, all in silver: oval, 1.30 m overall in its greatest diameter including the handles in the shape of half lions, 80.8 kg. Manufactured in 1705/1706 in London by Philip Rollos, it is a cooler, where the bottles could be placed within mountains of ice. A photograph of the Sotheby's catalog shows some fifteen bottles of champagne prepared for an immediate use. The catalog names it a "cistern"!
Unreleased until its arrival at auction in London on July 6, this silverware had been created on an initiative by Queen Anne. Seeking to ensure the standing of her ambassadors, she allocated to them a weight of silver with which they could have made an object enabling them to dazzle in society.
The ambassador in Berlin, from the Wentworth family, exceeded his quota and had to share the expenses! In any other country than England, this enormous bucket would risk a thousand times to be melted during the three centuries of its existence. But it remained cool (!) In the family of its first owner, and is now estimated 1.5 million pounds.
Despite the outstanding and royal features of this piece, the estimate is ambitious.
POST SALE COMMENT
The market has confirmed the exceptional nature of this piece of silverware: £ 2.5 million including premium.
It is viewed towering in the middle of the showroom at Sotheby's on this page shared before the sale by Art Market Monitor.
Unreleased until its arrival at auction in London on July 6, this silverware had been created on an initiative by Queen Anne. Seeking to ensure the standing of her ambassadors, she allocated to them a weight of silver with which they could have made an object enabling them to dazzle in society.
The ambassador in Berlin, from the Wentworth family, exceeded his quota and had to share the expenses! In any other country than England, this enormous bucket would risk a thousand times to be melted during the three centuries of its existence. But it remained cool (!) In the family of its first owner, and is now estimated 1.5 million pounds.
Despite the outstanding and royal features of this piece, the estimate is ambitious.
POST SALE COMMENT
The market has confirmed the exceptional nature of this piece of silverware: £ 2.5 million including premium.
It is viewed towering in the middle of the showroom at Sotheby's on this page shared before the sale by Art Market Monitor.
1745-1756 The Leinster Dinner Service
2012 SOLD 1.72 M£ including premium
During the reign of George II, a young Irish nobleman succeeded his father, married and bought dishes for his dinner table. It sounds normal.
What is less usual is that the service remained almost intact. Marked by George Wickes in London, dated between 1745 and 1756, it currently consists of 184 pieces of silverware for a total weight of 164.7 kg
Designed in the style of à la française dinner, it is also one of the finest examples of silverware from that time, far surpassing, it seems, the service of the Prince of Wales.
The young Irishman was the 20th Earl of Kildare, who was promoted in 1766 to become the first Duke of Leinster. Remained in his family until 1918, his silver is known as the Leinster service. It is estimated £ 1.5 million, for sale as a single lot by Christie's in London on July 5.
To assess the importance of the Leinster service, compare it with a more recent set in a different style: on November 6, 2008, Sotheby's sold $ 1.9 million including premium the table service delivered by Odiot to the Grand Duchess of Baden in the 1820s, consisting of 77 pieces for a total weight of 90 Kg.
POST SALE COMMENT
Maintaining such a set still undispersed is exceptional. The lot was sold £ 1.72 million including premium.
What is less usual is that the service remained almost intact. Marked by George Wickes in London, dated between 1745 and 1756, it currently consists of 184 pieces of silverware for a total weight of 164.7 kg
Designed in the style of à la française dinner, it is also one of the finest examples of silverware from that time, far surpassing, it seems, the service of the Prince of Wales.
The young Irishman was the 20th Earl of Kildare, who was promoted in 1766 to become the first Duke of Leinster. Remained in his family until 1918, his silver is known as the Leinster service. It is estimated £ 1.5 million, for sale as a single lot by Christie's in London on July 5.
To assess the importance of the Leinster service, compare it with a more recent set in a different style: on November 6, 2008, Sotheby's sold $ 1.9 million including premium the table service delivered by Odiot to the Grand Duchess of Baden in the 1820s, consisting of 77 pieces for a total weight of 90 Kg.
POST SALE COMMENT
Maintaining such a set still undispersed is exceptional. The lot was sold £ 1.72 million including premium.
1770 Catherine of Russia promotes the French Taste
2013 SOLD 1.78 M€ including premium
In 1770, the Empress Catherine desires a full service of silverware. It must be gorgeous and she decides to have it done in Paris. The silversmiths Roettiers father and son realize about 3000 pieces in a remarkably short time, 18 months.
Catherine was so happy with the result that she offered the service to her favorite, Count Orloff, and then took the whole back for her shortly after his death. Known afterwards as the Orloff service, this is a great example of the neoclassical style that took over the rococo with more power in the shape and better simplicity in the decoration.
Many pieces have disappeared, probably melted, and what remained was dispersed by the Soviet government. The arrival on the market of heavy pieces from the Orloff service is always an event.
On 19 April 2002, Christie's sold for $ 930K including premium a pair of high vase-shaped coolers. The total weight of this lot was 9468 g.
Two lots of pieces from the Orloff service are sold by Christie's in Paris on November 8.
The tureen with cover and stand made in 1770 by the younger Roettiers is estimated € 1.5 million, for a total weight of 11960 g. Here is the link to the catalog.
A suite of four candlesticks made in 1771 also by the son is estimated € 500K, for a total weight of 7460 g. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is consistent with the expectation for these two prestigious lots: € 1.78 million including premium for the tureen and € 600K including premium for the suite of candlesticks.
Catherine was so happy with the result that she offered the service to her favorite, Count Orloff, and then took the whole back for her shortly after his death. Known afterwards as the Orloff service, this is a great example of the neoclassical style that took over the rococo with more power in the shape and better simplicity in the decoration.
Many pieces have disappeared, probably melted, and what remained was dispersed by the Soviet government. The arrival on the market of heavy pieces from the Orloff service is always an event.
On 19 April 2002, Christie's sold for $ 930K including premium a pair of high vase-shaped coolers. The total weight of this lot was 9468 g.
Two lots of pieces from the Orloff service are sold by Christie's in Paris on November 8.
The tureen with cover and stand made in 1770 by the younger Roettiers is estimated € 1.5 million, for a total weight of 11960 g. Here is the link to the catalog.
A suite of four candlesticks made in 1771 also by the son is estimated € 500K, for a total weight of 7460 g. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is consistent with the expectation for these two prestigious lots: € 1.78 million including premium for the tureen and € 600K including premium for the suite of candlesticks.
1821-1824 The Table Service of the Grand Duchess of Baden
2008 SOLD 1.9 M$ including premium
The fall of Napoleon in 1815 did not immediately led to the end of the influence of the Bonaparte family and its allies in Europe. With 1 million inhabitants, the Duchy of Baden was governed by the Grand Duke, from the family of the former Electors of that German province, and his wife Stephanie de Beauharnais.
In parallel, the silversmith Odiot, who had provided regularly some silverware to the Imperials, continued to work after 1815 for this family scattered throughout Europe.
77 pieces of the table service provided by Odiot to the Grand Duchess through several orders between 1821 and 1824 have remained together, and constitute the lot 106 of the sale of Sotheby's in New York on November 6. The total weight of silver is 90 Kg
These pieces of silverware (a soup tureen weighing 9 kg, cups, salts, dishes and plates) are decorated with sirens, putti, grapes and laurels, according to models available in the catalog of Odiot since 1806. All parts are marked with the arms of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
The estimated price of this exceptional lot is $ 2 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
I consider this result as very good: $ 1.9 million including expenses. The lower estimate has not been reached, but it was not easy to predict the price of such a package.
In parallel, the silversmith Odiot, who had provided regularly some silverware to the Imperials, continued to work after 1815 for this family scattered throughout Europe.
77 pieces of the table service provided by Odiot to the Grand Duchess through several orders between 1821 and 1824 have remained together, and constitute the lot 106 of the sale of Sotheby's in New York on November 6. The total weight of silver is 90 Kg
These pieces of silverware (a soup tureen weighing 9 kg, cups, salts, dishes and plates) are decorated with sirens, putti, grapes and laurels, according to models available in the catalog of Odiot since 1806. All parts are marked with the arms of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
The estimated price of this exceptional lot is $ 2 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
I consider this result as very good: $ 1.9 million including expenses. The lower estimate has not been reached, but it was not easy to predict the price of such a package.
1967 Picasso and the Silversmith
2014 SOLD 3.5 M$ including premium
All shapes and all materials that can be used for graphic arts interested Picasso. On holidays near Cannes in August 1946, he discovered the art crafts of Vallauris. His collaboration with Madoura, the artistic identification of Georges and Suzanne Ramié, lasted two decades. Picasso became a ceramist.
In 1956, Picasso shows his ceramic plates to the art historian Douglas Cooper. Both regret the fragility of the ceramics and raise the idea to copy them into silver. Silver and terracotta have in common that they can be worked by the artist in repoussé.
Cooper introduces François Hugo to Picasso. Hugo had worked for many artists including Max Ernst and Cocteau. He used their designs for creating jewelry, silverware and gold pieces. Picasso selected 19 plates in unglazed biscuit, suitable for the technique to be used by Hugo. In a purely artistic approach, Picasso enjoyed his silver pieces made by Hugo without foreseeing a commercial exploitation.
In 1967, Picasso finally allows Hugo to make other copies of that set in silver. Twenty sets are edited, plus four artist's proofs. An artist's proof that has remained complete of its 19 plates is estimated $ 1M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 6, lot 20 in the catalog.
Diameters are ranging from 39 to 42 cm, excepted three smaller. The themes are the same as in the ceramics, especially including faces, with the stylized power of Picasso's art at that time.
The silver work has excited Picasso. After this first experience, he will prepare new drawings specifically tailored for their capabilities to push silver in repoussé.
POST SALE COMMENT
This remarkably complete set is a very good example of the diversity of the materials used by Picasso after war. It was sold for $ 3.5 million including premium.
In 1956, Picasso shows his ceramic plates to the art historian Douglas Cooper. Both regret the fragility of the ceramics and raise the idea to copy them into silver. Silver and terracotta have in common that they can be worked by the artist in repoussé.
Cooper introduces François Hugo to Picasso. Hugo had worked for many artists including Max Ernst and Cocteau. He used their designs for creating jewelry, silverware and gold pieces. Picasso selected 19 plates in unglazed biscuit, suitable for the technique to be used by Hugo. In a purely artistic approach, Picasso enjoyed his silver pieces made by Hugo without foreseeing a commercial exploitation.
In 1967, Picasso finally allows Hugo to make other copies of that set in silver. Twenty sets are edited, plus four artist's proofs. An artist's proof that has remained complete of its 19 plates is estimated $ 1M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 6, lot 20 in the catalog.
Diameters are ranging from 39 to 42 cm, excepted three smaller. The themes are the same as in the ceramics, especially including faces, with the stylized power of Picasso's art at that time.
The silver work has excited Picasso. After this first experience, he will prepare new drawings specifically tailored for their capabilities to push silver in repoussé.
POST SALE COMMENT
This remarkably complete set is a very good example of the diversity of the materials used by Picasso after war. It was sold for $ 3.5 million including premium.
1967 The Repoussé Silver of Pablo Picasso
2016 SOLD for HK$ 20M including premium
Around 1955 Picasso is excited and amused in creating ceramics. Silver artefacts can be worked in repoussé like a terra cotta. Picasso selects some themes among his plates and accepts that the goldsmith François Hugo executes them in silver.
The interest of Pablo for his silver remains private. He shows his silverware sparingly to very few friends. It was not until 1967 that Hugo, by permission of the artist, performs an edition of the whole set. For each model this issue is for 20 copies numbered 1 to 20 plus 2 "exemplaires d'artiste" (artist's proof) and 2 "exemplaires d'auteur" (author's proof).
Curiously this achievement remains unknown to the public until an exhibition of 19 pieces in London and Paris in 1977.
The 20 commercial sets were probably dispersed from their first sales. 19 pieces of the exemplaire d'artiste 2/2 remained in one lot sold for $ 3.5 million including premium by Christie's on May 6, 2014 from a lower estimate of $ 1M.
A collector has managed to gather a copy of each of the 24 listed plates. In this reconstructed set, the Visage de faune comes from an additional issue of 6 non commercial copies and the Visage géométrique aux traits, unnumbered, is a pattern copy identified on the reverse as "avant la lettre".
This interesting collection is estimated HK $ 12M for sale bySotheby's in Hong Kong on June 23, lot 539. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The interest of Pablo for his silver remains private. He shows his silverware sparingly to very few friends. It was not until 1967 that Hugo, by permission of the artist, performs an edition of the whole set. For each model this issue is for 20 copies numbered 1 to 20 plus 2 "exemplaires d'artiste" (artist's proof) and 2 "exemplaires d'auteur" (author's proof).
Curiously this achievement remains unknown to the public until an exhibition of 19 pieces in London and Paris in 1977.
The 20 commercial sets were probably dispersed from their first sales. 19 pieces of the exemplaire d'artiste 2/2 remained in one lot sold for $ 3.5 million including premium by Christie's on May 6, 2014 from a lower estimate of $ 1M.
A collector has managed to gather a copy of each of the 24 listed plates. In this reconstructed set, the Visage de faune comes from an additional issue of 6 non commercial copies and the Visage géométrique aux traits, unnumbered, is a pattern copy identified on the reverse as "avant la lettre".
This interesting collection is estimated HK $ 12M for sale bySotheby's in Hong Kong on June 23, lot 539. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
