Silver Armorial Basting Spoon, Nantes, 1765-1766

-  Basting spoon
-  Hammered and engraved silver
-  By Jean Le Cestre or Lessestre, master silversmith in Nantes from May 29, 1751 to 1785
-  Nantes, 1765-1766
-  Lenght: 28.8 cm long; Weight: 145 g
-  Excellent condition, beautiful patina
-  Provenance: Harscouët family (?)

-  Basting spoon, single-sided model, chamfered stem with a spatula-shaped shoulder engraved with the alliance coat of arms surmounted by a count's crown and a crest of an arm holding a saber. To the right quartered, one argent with a bend gules charged with three mullets of (?), two, of Penthièvre, three, of the Tower of Auvergne, four of Foix, overall azure with a bend argent charged with three rising crescents of the same, accompanied in chief by a lion passant of (?); to the sinister, azure with three escallops argent for the Harscouët family.

-  Hallmarks (on the stem): Master goldsmith: ILC with crowned fleur-de-lis for Jean Le Cestre [1 p.95-96]; warden's mark: X surmounted by a closed crown, Nantes from January 12, 1765 to January 21, 1766 [1 ​​pp.61-62]; charge: the word "NANTES" in three lines, a beading around it, surmounted by a crown and an ermine in the middle of the name, charge for large silver works, Nantes from October 1, 1762 to January 26, 1769 [1, pp.61-62]
-  Ref.: [1] collective: "Orfèvrerie nantaise", Cahiers de l'inventaire, Imprimerie nationale 1989