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Lot Essay
The present salvers formed part of a suite commissioned by João António Pinto da Silva (1719-1801), Keeper of the Treasury to Queen Maria I of Portugal, and are documented in correspondence addressed to the Portuguese minister in Paris, D. Vicente de Sousa Coutinho, dated 1 November 1784.
MADE BY AUGUSTE "THE BEST GOLDSMITH IN THE COUNTRY AND PERHAPS EVEN IN EUROPE"
Earlier that year, in April 1784, Pinto da Silva had instructed Sousa Coutinho to procure for the Queen two silver-gilt toilet services, which were commissioned from Robert-Joseph Auguste, who was then the most fashionable and skillful Parisian goldsmith. Furthermore, his healthy business was a reassurance for the Portuguese crown, which remembered the painful financial collapse of Auguste's predecessor, François-Thomas Germain, whose insolvency had caused substantial losses. The French court actively reinforced confidence in Auguste's appointment by asking Auguste and his son Henry to publicly present before the court at Versailles the toilet service intended for the Portuguese queen, an event recorded in the Gazette de France of 13 February 1785.
MADE FOR TWO MARRIAGES FESTIVITIES
Beside this toilet service, additional gilded silver was commissioned from Auguste by the court for the marriages of the Infante Gabriel of Spain to Mariana Vitória of Portugal, and of the future João VI to Carlota Joaquina of Spain. Among the pieces ordered were eight or ten ewers, twelve large salvers, capable of holding six water glasses each, and twelve smaller examples, designed to carry two or three glasses (see L. d'Orey, The silver service of the Portuguese crown, Lisbon, 2003, p. 39).
Three of the smaller salvers from this commission remain today in Portugal in the collections of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda. A further thirteen examples, including the present salvers, were recorded in the inventory compiled following the death of Queen Josefina of Sweden in 1876, comprising seven of the larger size and six of the smaller.
FROM THE ROYAL PORTUGUESE COLLECTION TO THE SWEDISH ROYAL COLLECTION
It is uncertain how the salvers entered the Swedish royal collections, but they were likely among the silver transported to Brazil in 1807 when the Portuguese royal family fled the Napoleonic invasion. Although contemporary sources specifically mention the removal of the Germain silver dinner service, it is likely that other pieces from the royal treasury accompanied the court. Upon returning to Portugal in 1821, King João VI brought back part of the royal plate, though a quantity remained in Brazil with his son Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil.
Pedro I's second wife, Princess Amelia of Leuchtenberg (1812-1873), appears to have inherited these salvers together with other objects associated with the Brazilian court. Upon her death, the group passed to her sister Josefina of Leuchtenberg (1807-1876), better known as Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway, consort of King Oscar I.
An inventory compiled after Queen Josefina's death records thirteen of the original twenty-four salvers commissioned for the royal marriages of 1785: seven large examples numbered 17 to 23 and six smaller examples numbered 24 to 29. It is thought that the inventory numbers and weights were added at that time. The salvers subsequently passed to her second son, King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (1829-1907). Today, four examples remain in the Swedish Royal Collections, numbered 17, 20, 22 and 29.
MADE BY AUGUSTE "THE BEST GOLDSMITH IN THE COUNTRY AND PERHAPS EVEN IN EUROPE"
Earlier that year, in April 1784, Pinto da Silva had instructed Sousa Coutinho to procure for the Queen two silver-gilt toilet services, which were commissioned from Robert-Joseph Auguste, who was then the most fashionable and skillful Parisian goldsmith. Furthermore, his healthy business was a reassurance for the Portuguese crown, which remembered the painful financial collapse of Auguste's predecessor, François-Thomas Germain, whose insolvency had caused substantial losses. The French court actively reinforced confidence in Auguste's appointment by asking Auguste and his son Henry to publicly present before the court at Versailles the toilet service intended for the Portuguese queen, an event recorded in the Gazette de France of 13 February 1785.
MADE FOR TWO MARRIAGES FESTIVITIES
Beside this toilet service, additional gilded silver was commissioned from Auguste by the court for the marriages of the Infante Gabriel of Spain to Mariana Vitória of Portugal, and of the future João VI to Carlota Joaquina of Spain. Among the pieces ordered were eight or ten ewers, twelve large salvers, capable of holding six water glasses each, and twelve smaller examples, designed to carry two or three glasses (see L. d'Orey, The silver service of the Portuguese crown, Lisbon, 2003, p. 39).
Three of the smaller salvers from this commission remain today in Portugal in the collections of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda. A further thirteen examples, including the present salvers, were recorded in the inventory compiled following the death of Queen Josefina of Sweden in 1876, comprising seven of the larger size and six of the smaller.
FROM THE ROYAL PORTUGUESE COLLECTION TO THE SWEDISH ROYAL COLLECTION
It is uncertain how the salvers entered the Swedish royal collections, but they were likely among the silver transported to Brazil in 1807 when the Portuguese royal family fled the Napoleonic invasion. Although contemporary sources specifically mention the removal of the Germain silver dinner service, it is likely that other pieces from the royal treasury accompanied the court. Upon returning to Portugal in 1821, King João VI brought back part of the royal plate, though a quantity remained in Brazil with his son Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil.
Pedro I's second wife, Princess Amelia of Leuchtenberg (1812-1873), appears to have inherited these salvers together with other objects associated with the Brazilian court. Upon her death, the group passed to her sister Josefina of Leuchtenberg (1807-1876), better known as Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway, consort of King Oscar I.
An inventory compiled after Queen Josefina's death records thirteen of the original twenty-four salvers commissioned for the royal marriages of 1785: seven large examples numbered 17 to 23 and six smaller examples numbered 24 to 29. It is thought that the inventory numbers and weights were added at that time. The salvers subsequently passed to her second son, King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (1829-1907). Today, four examples remain in the Swedish Royal Collections, numbered 17, 20, 22 and 29.