Lot Essay
The poinçon du gratis was used on objects exempt from tax, usually gifts from the Crown.
Details
A LOUIS XV SILVER SERVING TROWEL
PARIS, 1773, MAKER'S MARK OF ROBERT-JOSEPH AUGUSTE
The triangular blade elaborately pierced with foliate scrolls, with part-faceted stem and turned ebonized wood handle, the reverse of the blade engraved with the initials FB over traces of an erased coat-of-arms, marked on blade, the reverse with the charge of Julien Alaterre, the front with poinçons du gratis--14½in. (30cm.) long
PARIS, 1773, MAKER'S MARK OF ROBERT-JOSEPH AUGUSTE
The triangular blade elaborately pierced with foliate scrolls, with part-faceted stem and turned ebonized wood handle, the reverse of the blade engraved with the initials FB over traces of an erased coat-of-arms, marked on blade, the reverse with the charge of Julien Alaterre, the front with poinçons du gratis--14½in. (30cm.) long
Provenance
Jacques Kugel, Paris, 1963