Pair Of Empire Stoves, Comines, Flanders, 1799-1809, Sterling Silver

Impressive pair of Empire period stoves in chiseled solid silver. Quite large in size, they are in a perfect state of conservation. Below the hearths is an engraved text on each piece: "1st prize won at Commines on September 8, 1808 in the horse race by Mr. F. Steverlynck." This text gives us a clue to understand a peculiarity of these objects: although they each have the same master goldsmith's mark and the same guarantee mark for the first rooster (1799-1809) and one for the head of a horse (1796- 98), these two pieces are stamped in two different guarantee offices 69 Lille for one, 54 Ypres (Belgium) for the other. This detail reveals a particularity of this small Flemish town of Commines , disputed and separated in two, then reunited, for centuries at the time of the manufacture of these two stoves. In the eighteenth century, the river Lys formed the administrative boundary between northern Comines (Austrian Netherlands) and southern Comines (kingdom of France). Curiously, despite this administrative separation, the citizens continued to elect a single college of aldermen, a single mayor sitting in a single town hall. The pair weighs grams.