AN ITALIAN TORTOISESHELL, GOLD AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL PIQUE INKSTAND

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There are many references to piqué work in advertisements and sale catalogues of the 17th and 18th Centuries. In his catalogue of The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, London, 1974, II, p. 838, Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue refers to the collection of 'picay' work formed by Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III, which included an inkstand and two snuffboxes, all later sold in these Rooms, 18 May 1819, lot 30; 25 May 1819, lot 67 and 26 May 1819, lot 17. Sir Robert Adam is recorded as having bought three 'very handsome snuff-boxes of yellow and black tortoise-shell studded with gold' on a visit to Naples in 1755 (see J. Fleming, Robert Adam and his Circle, London, 1962, p. 157) and later in the century Lady Anne Miller refers to a comb bought while in Naples in a letter of 1771, (Lady Anne Miller, Letters from Italy, London, 1776, III, p. 243-244, see de Bellaigue, op. cit. p.838). this city (Naples) is famous for a manufacture in tortoiseshell, which they inlay curiously with gold, and are very ingenious at representing any object you choose. I have had a comb made for my chignon incrusted with gold, to imitate an Etruscan border, copied from an antique vase, which is so well done, that we have bespoke several other articles... The technique of inlaying tortoiseshell with mother-of-pearl, gold and silver probably originated in Naples towards the end of the 16th Century. Judging by the number of contemporary references to the Neapolitan piqué work and the surviving pieces which bear the centre of production, certainly for those pieces made in the eighteenth Century. Piqué was also produced in France and Germany, (see C. Le Corbeiller, European and American Snuff Boxes, 1730-1830, London, 1966, p. 84), however the complete lack of contemporary records necessitates attributions based on the style of the decoration, such as with the two trays at Waddesdon (illustrated in Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue, op. cit., nos. 228 and 233). A number of signed examples are in British collections, for example in the Wallace Collection (INV. no XXIIIA 35), signed by the Neapolitan craftsman Sarao; and a tray at Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, by the same. A cabinet in the Royal Collection, illustrated in Catalogue of Bibelots, Miniatures and other Valuables, The Property of H. M. Queen Mary, privately printed, London, 1939, III, p. 85, no. 6 bears the inscription DE LAURENZIF F.. Very little is known of these and other craftsmen, such as Nicolaus Storace, whose signiature appears on a Neapolitan piqué inkstand, sold in these Rooms, 12 May 1970, lot 40, from the collection of Lord Rothschild. The most notable collections of piqué have been assembled by various members of the Rothschild family, such as that of Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild at Mentmore (sold by the Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire, Sotheby's house sale, 23 May 1977, lots 1841-58) and that of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild at Waddesdon, discussed by Sir Geoffrey de Ballaigue op. cit.., II, p. 827-844.

AN ITALIAN TORTOISESHELL, GOLD AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL PIQUE INKSTAND

PROBABLY NAPLES, CIRCA 1740

Details

AN ITALIAN TORTOISESHELL, GOLD AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL PIQUE INKSTAND
Probably Naples, circa 1740
Inlaid overall with scrolling foliage, latticework and figures, the shaped moulded stand with four figures representing the Arts and Sciences, each framed by mask-headed drapery flanked by winged cherubs with trumpets, fittet with a metal-lined lidded box, a pounce pot with a pierced cover, a jar with pierced cover containing an ink-bottle, a metal-lined bell with ring-turned handle and a central taperstick, on ring-turned feet, the cylindrical jars numbered '1', '2' and '3' in gold with corresponding numbering on the stand, with two inventory lables '2533' and 'Q.G. 13 C. 67'
4¼ in. (11 cm.) high; 9¼ in. (23.5 cm.) long; 7 in. (18 cm.) wide

Provenance

Baron Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911), 23 Avenue Marigny, Paris.
Bought by present owner, Picard Audap Solanet & Associés, Paris, 11
June 1997, lot 116 (125,000 FF).

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The shaped stand is serpentined after the French manner and inlaid with
gold and mother-of-pearl in the arabesque manner derived from the
engravings of Jean Bérain (1637-1711). The tray is embellished with
acanthus scrolls and figurative medallions emblematic of the Seasons,
whose scrolled and husk-festooned cartouches are accompanied by
cherubim-masks, triumphal palm-bearing cupids and stately
baldacchino drapery.

The Rothschild collection at Waddesdon includes two inkstands related
to the present lot, nos. 235 and 237. A further inkstand of related H. Ricketts, Objects of Vertu, London, 1966, p. 64.

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