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295 - A vermeil ewer and its basin. The circular base is decorated…
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Estimate €6,000 - €8,000
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Description
A vermeil ewer and its 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 surrounded by a frieze of scrolls decorated with swans drinking. The handle depicts a winged mermaid leaning back, holding a bunch of grapes, her arms stretched out over her face. The lid is topped with a swan-shaped knob. The navette-shaped basin is decorated with a double frieze of water leaves and scrolls, punctuated by swans drinking and two opposing masks. Marks: first Paris title, 1809-1819, and test mark with Greek woman's head, 950 thousandths. Goldsmith: M.V.C. Martin C.V. (registered in 1817), workshop 6, place Dauphine. Dimensions of the ewer : Height: 35.5 cm Width : 16 cm Dimensions of the 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 seems 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 gilt-ware example with its matching basin (Paris, circa 1810-1811 / 1819, inv. OA 9692/1, formerly coll. Puiforcat). A similar set, also in gilt, is in the Musée Condé in Chantilly (Duc d'Aumale bequest, inv. OA 1573). Another, more sober variant in silver, was made 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, has a body engraved with foliage and a base decorated with water leaves; it has retained its lid surmounted by a swan-shaped knob (unsigned, Lyon, Ivory sale, 29 April 2014, lot 390). The silversmith Goulain also produced a richer version in vermeil, where the frieze and base are engraved rather than treated in relief (Paris, Fraysse sale, 27 November 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, 15 April 2015, lot 273). Finally, 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 on our ewer (Paris, Ader sale, 9 June 2020, lot 59). The ewer (GML 11681) and its basin (GML 11680) were in the Hôtel de Bourvallais, headquarters of the Ministry of Justice (place Vendôme, Paris), in 1995 (salon rouge). Classified as a Historic Monument on 4 July 1995 (PM75003521), it is registered with the Ministry of Justice under no. 500068, formerly IAB 426.
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About the sale The Empire at Fontainebleau - Second day
Auction location
Auction time 06/21/2026 at 10:30 AM
Lot description modified on 06/10/2026 at 9:57 AM
Pictures credits:
Michel Bury and Henri du Cray
See original version (French)
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