AN IMPORTANT ITALIAN SILVER SOUP-TUREEN, COVER AND STAND GENOA, 1787 Circular, the stand on four acanthus foliage-capped ball feet, the border chased with band of waterleaves, the raised centre with applied beaded band, the two-handled tureen on spreading detachable foot with chased foliage border, the lower part of the partly fluted body chased with palm leaves, the upper part with Vitruvian scrolls and flowers on matted ground, the partly twisted handles terminating in matted bifurcated scrolls, the broad border to the raised cover chased with swirling flutes with laurel wreath above, the finial formed as an acanthus bud, rising from acanthus foliage, with plain two-handled liner, marked on stand, tureen and liner the stand 44.5 cm. (17½ in.) diam., overall height 43.2 cm, (17 in.) high 10735 gr. (335 oz.) The art of Genoa has always reflected the international connections her merchants and bankers had with Spain, Antwerp, England and France. In the late 18th Century, the contacts with France were particularly close. At this time the French architect Charles de Wailly was working at the Palazzo Spinola and it has been noted how much his work influenced the applied arts as well. While many of the design elements of this tureen are to be found in Piranesi's engravings, there are only a limited number of French silversmiths, such as Roettiers or Auguste, who created such monumental pieces of table silver with such purity of line, and even fewer Italian artists who worked in this style successfully. This magnificent soup-tureen and stand by an anonymous Genoese silversmith, dated 1787, is quite close in style to Saurin's soup-tureen (lot 135) made in Paris a decade earlier. The connections between certain Genoese and French silver has long been recognised and are particularly noticeable in the case of a pair of Genoese wine cooler of 1777 now in the collection of Arthur Gilbert which are closely related to a pair of Parisian coolers by Thomas Germain 1744. (see T.B. Schroder The Gilbert Collection of Gold and Silver , Los Angeles, 1988, p.602, no.164). It is probable that monumental pieces such as this tureen were not really intended to be used at table. Rather they were to form an essential element of table centres. At the same time as tables tended to get wider, the replacement of the service à la française by the service à la russe resulted in empty space on the dining table. The well-known painting by Pehr d.ä. Hillerström (1732-1816) representing the Dinner in public of King Gustav III at the Royal Palace in Stockholm in 1779 shows clearly how such massive tureens were used as table decorations. used as table decorations. used as table decorations. used as table decorations. such massive tureens were used as table decorations. such massive tureens were used as table decorations. such massive tureens were used as table decorations.
AN IMPORTANT ITALIAN SILVER SOUP-TUREEN, COVER AND STAND GENOA, 1787 Circular, the stand on four acanthus foliage-capped ball feet, the border chased with band of waterleaves, the raised centre with applied beaded band, the two-handled tureen on spreading detachable foot with chased foliage border, the lower part of the partly fluted body chased with palm leaves, the upper part with Vitruvian scrolls and flowers on matted ground, the partly twisted handles terminating in matted bifurcated scrolls, the broad border to the raised cover chased with swirling flutes with laurel wreath above, the finial formed as an acanthus bud, rising from acanthus foliage, with plain two-handled liner, marked on stand, tureen and liner the stand 44.5 cm. (17½ in.) diam., overall height 43.2 cm, (17 in.) high 10735 gr. (335 oz.) The art of Genoa has always reflected the international connections her merchants and bankers had with Spain, Antwerp, England and France. In the late 18th Century, the contacts with France were particularly close. At this time the French architect Charles de Wailly was working at the Palazzo Spinola and it has been noted how much his work influenced the applied arts as well. While many of the design elements of this tureen are to be found in Piranesi's engravings, there are only a limited number of French silversmiths, such as Roettiers or Auguste, who created such monumental pieces of table silver with such purity of line, and even fewer Italian artists who worked in this style successfully. This magnificent soup-tureen and stand by an anonymous Genoese silversmith, dated 1787, is quite close in style to Saurin's soup-tureen (lot 135) made in Paris a decade earlier. The connections between certain Genoese and French silver has long been recognised and are particularly noticeable in the case of a pair of Genoese wine cooler of 1777 now in the collection of Arthur Gilbert which are closely related to a pair of Parisian coolers by Thomas Germain 1744. (see T.B. Schroder The Gilbert Collection of Gold and Silver , Los Angeles, 1988, p.602, no.164). It is probable that monumental pieces such as this tureen were not really intended to be used at table. Rather they were to form an essential element of table centres. At the same time as tables tended to get wider, the replacement of the service à la française by the service à la russe resulted in empty space on the dining table. The well-known painting by Pehr d.ä. Hillerström (1732-1816) representing the Dinner in public of King Gustav III at the Royal Palace in Stockholm in 1779 shows clearly how such massive tureens were used as table decorations. used as table decorations. used as table decorations. used as table decorations. such massive tureens were used as table decorations. such massive tureens were used as table decorations. such massive tureens were used as table decorations.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
