CAPTION 1: Design for a vase by Henri Auguste for Odiot, circa 1806, courtesy of Odiot Archives CAPTION 2: Design for a vase by Prud'hon and Cavelier for Odiot, 1810-1811, courtesy of Odiot Archives CAPTION 3: Sir David Dundas (1735-1820), courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, London

A LARGE FRENCH TWO-HANDLED SILVER-GILT PRESENTATION CUP

MARK OF JEAN-BAPTISTE-CLAUDE ODIOT, PARIS, CIRCA 1819, DESIGN ATTRIBUTED TO HENRI AUGUSTE

Details

A LARGE FRENCH TWO-HANDLED SILVER-GILT PRESENTATION CUP
MARK OF JEAN-BAPTISTE-CLAUDE ODIOT, PARIS, CIRCA 1819, DESIGN ATTRIBUTED TO HENRI AUGUSTE
Vase form, on shaped square plinth, applied on two sides with a coiled snake, and engraved presentation inscription, the body on spreading foliate base with applied Royal arms and arms of Dundas, the lower body with palm and acanthus calyx and guilloche band above, the scroll handles with female mask lower joins, the upper body applied with two medallions of seated classical figures, one inscribed Hospitalité, the other Reconnaissance, the neck with applied lily and palm band, with copper-gilt liner, marked under base, foot, wine cooler foot, calyx, handles and neck rim
19¾ in. (50.4 cm.) high; 230 oz. 10 dwt. (7170 gr.)
The arms are those of Dundas

The inscription reads:
A SIR DAVID DUNDAS BARONNET, les princesses-De Noailles de Poix; D'Alsace-Chimay-D'enin; De Talleyrand-Périgord-Chalais, Les Marquises-De Thuisky; De Sommeri; De Montagu; Le Duc; De Grammont Pair de France, et Capitaine des Gardes du Corps du Roi, Les Marquis, De Lally-Toelndal Pair de France et Ministre d'Etat de la Tour du Pin Pair de France et Ambassadeur à Turin; De Chabannes Pair de France; De Thuisy Marechal des Camps et Armées du Roi Le Commaneur de Thuisy.

The opposite side reads:
NOS HOSPITALIS EXULES TELLUS TULIT

Provenance

Sir David Dundas (1735-1820)
Sold Anonymously, Christie's, New York, 23 October 1984, lot 372

Literature

A. Phillips and J. Sloane, Exhibition catalogue, Antiquity Revisited: English and French Silver-Gilt, London, 1997, p. 128, no. 40.

Exhibited

New York, Christie's, Antiquity Revisited: English and French Silver-Gilt from the Collection of Audrey Love, September 1997
San Marino, Huntington Art Gallery, November 1998 - January 1999

Lot Essay

The specific occasion on which this cup was presented to Sir David Dundas is unknown; however it seems likely to have been a gift from the French nobility in recognition of his protection of their lives and property during the Napoleonic Wars. The presentation itself must date from 1819, the year the hallmarks on this cup were introduced or the following year, the year of Sir David's death.

Dundas's career in the army was distinguished by his writing The Rules and Regulations for the Cavalry, under which the armies of Abercromby, Moore and Wellington were disciplined. He succeeded his friend the Duke of York as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in 1809 after the well-known scandal involving the selling of army commissions by the Duke of York's mistress, Mary Ann Clarke. In 1811, Dundas graciously stepped down in favor of the Duke who resumed his office.

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