Born in 1726, François-Thomas Germain was one of the finest French silversmiths of the eighteenth century. He was trained in the workshop of his celebrated father Thomas Germain and became a master silversmith in 1748 at the very young age of twenty-two. Throughout his career he worked for Louis XV and the French Court, unfortunately almost none of the masterpieces commissioned for this most demanding of patrons survive. However the large commission for the Court of Portugal, most notably the dinner service acquired after the earthquake of Lisbon in 1757, and the pieces sold to members of the Russian Court do survive and they illustrate his great taste, originality and workmanship. In 1765, Germain so in debt and being owed so much for unpaid commissions that his business collapsed and was declared bankrupted. He died in 1791, having left Paris in 1778.

This exquisite cream-jug of unique form illustrates perfectly Germain's masterly talent for perfectly balanced proportions and inventive design such as the elegantly twisted handle. Although continuing the forms of the Rococo this jug has the simiplicity of design and economy of ornment of the neo-classicism period.