Silver Chocolate Pot By Johann-heinrich Oertel, Strasburg, 1753

- Chocolate pot
- Hammered and cast silver
- Johann-Heinrich Oertel, master silversmith in Strasbourg from 1749 to 1788
- Strasburg, 1753
- Dim: 22 cm; Weight (gross): 575 g
- Very good condition, no restoration, beautiful patina
- Provenance: Christie's sale of June 21, 2006, n°39 "Chocolatiere par Jean-Henri Oertel, Strasbourg, 1753" (sic)

- A chocolate pot on three feet in rolls and with ribbed ties. The upper edge is adorned with a large fillet molding. The plain spout is attached with an intermediate flat ring ending in a base. The hinged lid is in the shape of a dome tightened at its base, surmounted by a flat molded terrace and lined with nets with a pivoting element hiding the orifice of the frother.
Specific of Strasbourg production in the second half of the 18th century, we know an another chocolate pot dated 1772[1] kept in a larger private collection, produced some twenty years later, a sign of the constancy of the models within the workshops.

- Hallmarks: under the body: Reconnaissance: 13 crowned, Strasbourg, 1750-1789 [Helft, n°1100b & 8]; Master silversmith: OERTEL in a rectangle, Johann-Heinrich Oertel, 1749-1788 [Helft, n°1112d & 8]; Warden mark: B crowned, Strasbourg, 1753 [8] - Son of journeyman goldsmith Johann-Georg Oertel, Johann-Heinrich was born in Berlin in 1717. The exact date of Oertel's arrival in Strasbourg is not known. On December 17, 1748, he asked for permission to execute his masterpiece, which was granted on condition that he prove that he had been working on site for four years after his tour of companionship (Muthzeit), to produce a certificate promise of marriage with a daughter of a master silversmith and to pay four pounds of admission tax to the masterpiece[2]. On February 28, 1749, Oertel presented his masterpiece and was received as a master[3]. On September 18, 1749, he was received as a member of the corporation of Goldsmiths (Leibzünftiger). In 1768 Oertel served as tribal chief (Zunftmeister), alderman (Schöffel) in 1769 and 1782 and judge at the corporate court (Zunftgericht) from 1783 to 1785. Oertel was also a member of the Grand Senate in 1787 and in 1788.

- Ref. : [2] Haug, Hans: “The golden century of silversmithing in Strasbourg”, exhibition catalog at Jacques Kugel from October 10 to 31, 1964, Paris, 1964; [3] Haug, Hans: “Goldsmithery in Strasbourg, Inventory of French public collections” Paris, 1978: [8] Martin, É. & Pesneaud-Antheaume, A.-Cl. : “Two centuries of silversmithing in Strasbourg. 13th-19th centuries in the silver collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs”, Strasbourg, Ed. des Musées de Strasbourg, 2004