Vermeil ewer and basin. - Lot 295

Lot n° 295
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Estimation :
6000 - 8000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 6 760EUR
Vermeil ewer and basin. - Lot 295
Vermeil ewer and basin. The circular base is decorated with water leaves and pearls. The oval body is decorated with bunches of leaves and palmettes on an amati background. The body is encircled by a scrolling frieze embellished with drinking swans. The handle features a winged mermaid leaning back, holding a bunch of grapes, her arms stretched over her face. The lid is topped by a swan-shaped knob. The navette-shaped basin is decorated with a double frieze of water leaves and scrolls, punctuated by drinking swans and two opposing masks. Marks: first Paris title, 1809-1819, and trial mark with Greek woman's head, 950 thousandths. Goldsmith: M.V.C. Martin C.V. (registered in 1817), workshop 6, place Dauphine. Dimensions of ewer: Height: 35.5 cm Width : 16 cm Dimensions of basin : Height: 8.5 cm Length: 40.6 cm Width: 27.7 cm Overall weight: 2,230 g. CONDITION: dents on the body of the ewer and slight deformation of the foot. Provenance: Descendants of the imperial family Notes: This model is well documented and known through numerous variants. The earliest appears to be the work of the silversmith Marc-Augustin Lebrun; it is distinguished by a rich frieze in relief encircling the body, decorated with winged lions terminating in foliage and lyres. The Musée du Louvre holds a vermeil example with its matching basin (Paris, circa 1810-1811 / 1819, inv. OA 9692/1, formerly coll. Puiforcat). A similar set, also in vermeil, is in the Musée Condé in Chantilly (Duc d'Aumale bequest, inv. OA 1573). Another, more sober variant in silver, is by Nicolas-Xavier Goulain (Paris, circa 1819-1829; Musée du Louvre, inv. OA 10983). The body is engraved with rose festoons. A close version of this model, also in silver, features a body engraved with foliage and a base decorated with water leaves; it has retained its lid topped with a swan-shaped knob (unsigned, Lyon, vente Ivoire, April 29, 2014, lot 390). Goldsmith Goulain also produced a richer version in vermeil, where the frieze and base are engraved rather than treated in relief (Paris, Fraysse sale, November 27, 2013, lot 236). Another variant, attributed to Jean-François Burel and made in vermeil, is distinguished by a particularly rich decoration in high relief (frieze of foliage, foliate base) (Paris, circa 1819-1838; Paris, Ader sale, April 15, 2015, lot 273). Lastly, there is at least one other silver version with a mermaid-shaped handle and a frieze in relief of facing swans separated by a crown and finished in foliage, similar to that of our ewer (Paris, Ader sale, June 9, 2020, lot 59). The set formed by the ewer (GML 11681) and its basin (GML 11680) was in place at the Hôtel de Bourvallais, headquarters of the Ministry of Justice (place Vendôme, Paris), in 1995 (salon rouge). Classified as a Historic Monument on July 4, 1995 (PM75003521), it is registered with the Ministry of Justice under no. 500068, formerly IAB 426.
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