Lot 323
323
A FINE VICTORIAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER TABLE GARNITURE
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTION 
A FINE VICTORIAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER TABLE GARNITURE

MARK OF FREDERICK ELKINGTON, BIRMINGHAM, 1886; DESIGNED BY MOREL-LADEUIL

Details
A FINE VICTORIAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER TABLE GARNITURE
MARK OF FREDERICK ELKINGTON, BIRMINGHAM, 1886; DESIGNED BY MOREL-LADEUIL
Comprising: a centerpiece with glass bowl and two compotes with glass bowls; the centerpiece on a shaped oval plateau, one side applied with a coat-of-arms and the other engraved with an inscription, with two cornucopiae, chased with allegorical figures, with applied male and female figures holding the oval basket, the basket chased with acanthus and Bacchic masks, the base fitted with a wood insert, the glass copper-wheel engraved with lobed panels of butterflies and flowers, marked on base, each shield, each figure, basket, and the four hinges, the compotes, each on a shaped circular base, with cornucopia feet, the stem formed as a reclining putto on an animal pelt, supporting a circular dish chased with masks and grapevine, the glass bowls shaped circular with conforming decoration, marked on foot, pelt, and bowl
The centerpiece 35½ in. (90.2 cm.) long, the compotes 8 in. (20.2 cm.) high; the compotes 65 oz. 10 dwt. (2036 gr.) weighable silver
The inscription reads: THIS SILVER SERVICE OF PLATE IS PRESENTED TO ROBERT HARVEY, ESQ. ASOC: M. INST: CE., M INST: MC BY THE SHAREHOLDERS OF THE LIVERPOOL NITRATE COMPANY LIMD IN RECOGNITION OF HIS PROFESSIONAL ABILITY AND VALUABLE SERVICES IN THE ERECTION AND SUPERINTENDENCE OF THEIR WORKS AT OFICINA RAMIREZ IQUIQUE CHILI LIVERPOOL 87 (3)

Lot Essay

This garniture was designed by the French designer Leonard Morel-Ladeuil (d.1888), who studied under Antoine Vechte and worked from 1859 for the Birmingham firm of Elkington & Co. He is chiefly remembered for a number of masterpieces such as the Invention Vase produced in 1853, the Milton Shield of 1867 and the Helicon Vase of 1871. In 1876, at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, Elkington and Co. exhibited several dinner and dessert services made expressly for that exhibit. A closely related dessert service, designed by Morel-Ladeuil and valued at two thousand guineas, was featured in the 1876 Art Journal, and was undoubtedly the model for this service produced ten years later.

An Elkington table garniture of the same model was sold in these Rooms on 20 April 2001, lot 226.


IMAGE CAPTION
Centerpiece and "end-piece" of a dessert service, by Morel-Ladeuil, designed for Elkington and exhibited at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876

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