Lot 144
144
A FRENCH SILVER-GILT JUG
A FRENCH SILVER-GILT JUG

MAKER'S MARK OF MOREL & CIE, PARIS, CIRCA 1855

Details
A FRENCH SILVER-GILT JUG
Maker's mark of Morel & Cie, Paris, circa 1855
Baluster-form, on spreading foot with panels of anthemion separated by beading, the lobed body engraved with strapwork and applied with floral swags centering shields engraved with a coat-of-arms, the leaf-capped handle with join formed as a winged figure, two frolicking putti applied under the spout, the hinged domed cover engraved with strapwork and surmounted by a finial formed as a recumbant putto, marked under base, on body and cover
8¾in. (22.2cm.); 33oz. 10dwt. (1054gr.)

Lot Essay

Jean-Valentin Morel (1794-1860) trained with his Parisian lapidary father and with Adrien Vachette, the noted gold box maker. He began his working career circa 1827 and later joined in partnership with Charles- Edmond Duponchel. Following the acrimonious dissolution of their partnership in 1848, Morel removed to London and set up a workshop. Despite success at the 1851 Great Exhibition, Morel's London venture was unprofitable, and he closed the business in 1852. Morel returned to France, participated to great acclaim at the 1855 Exhibition, yet died in financial straits in 1860. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 55, no. 2, Fall 1997, 51; John Culme, The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, Jewellers, and Allied Traders, 1838-1914, 2 vols, 1987, 331-32).