Coffee Pot, Douai 1749, Dormeuil Collection, Charles-louis Gérard, Sterling Silver

Extremely rare and sumptuous coffee pot from the Louis XV period with the hallmarks of the city of Douai for the year 1749 and the hallmark of master goldsmith Charles Louis Gerard. The son of a Lille goldsmith, Henry Gérard, who moved to Douai in 1700, he obtained the master's degree in 1716 and remained active as a goldsmith for at least three and a half decades. He died in December 1769 and was buried in the Church of Saint-Pierre. Madame Nicole Cartier has listed a good dozen coffee and chocolate pots of the same type and from the same period as the one I am offering for sale here. They are all quadripods, which is typical, even common, for the goldsmithery of Douai and Valenciennes but extremely rare for all the other production centers in France of the Ancien Régime. The rolling feet are attached to the body of the chocolate pot by large shells which are still very reminiscent of the Regency style. Its body is formed by four straight sides, alternating with four curved sides with double straight ribs. The fretel of the lid is formed by a blooming flower on two levels placed on a terrace of greenery and garlands of smaller flowers. The turned pear neck is attached to the body by a straight rib sheath. The jug is abundantly punched on the spout, inside the foot and on the bottom of the body. Below the spout is an engraving of two intertwined initials MV which probably dates from around 1770-1790. On the bottom is also a dedication engraved in 1906 for the silver wedding anniversary of André and Madeleine Dormeuil. Georges Dormeuil offered them the coffee pot on this happy occasion. Georges and André were the sons of Jules Dormeuil, a descendant of a family of drapers and himself the founder of the famous Dormeuil house. Georges was a phenomenal collector of high period art and paintings by old masters. He bequeathed several works to the Louvre and the Carnavalet museum