"Large Silver Chocolate Pot Attributed To Charles Spire, Paris, 1757-1758"
- Hammered, cast and chased silver - Charles Spire, master silversmith in Paris from 1736 to 1788
- Paris, 1757-1758
- Height: 27.2 cm; weight (without handle): 1,181g
- Very good condition, beautiful patina, very fresh high-quality chasing, small restoration to the body (probably during manufacture)
- Provenance: private collection
- Chocolate pot with a plain body, set on three low scrolled feet, with molding attachments and stylized shells in high relief. The covered spout is decorated with canals and a double lip of shells. The lid is bordered by a molding of ribboned rushes, on a flat terrace, jagged leaves in high relief are mounted on a pivot and hide the opening of the frother. The thumb rest is a finely chiseled, jagged shell with a scroll. The cylindrical side sleeve with a molded-edge bulge is welded to the body by a threaded rosette. The ebony handle screws onto the sleeve.
- Chocolate pot among the finest models of Parisian production from the 1750s, with ornaments typical of rocaille goldsmithing such as the double jagged shell of the spout and the cover of the lid. The foot attachments decorated with a symmetrical rocaille are characteristic of the period. Few works by this goldsmith are known; however, he was a master of great talent whose services were acquired by the Marquis d'Aveiras and the financier Samuel-Jacques Bernard, Count of Coubert; an identical chocolate pot dated 1755-1756 was part of the Bernard and Edith Causse collection (Sotheby's sale).
-Réf. : [1] Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle & de Fontaine, Gabriel : « Les poinçons de l’orfèvrerie parisienne », Paris Musées, Paris, 1995 [2] Bimbenet-Privat, Doux, Gougeon : « Orfèvrerie de la Renaissance et des temps modernes, XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles », Louvre éditions, Paris, 2023 ; [3] Fuhring, Peter : « Collection Calouste Gulbenkian », Musée Calouste Gulbenkian, Turin, 1999
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