A FINE VICTORIAN SILVER CENTERPIECE CANDELABRUM

MARK OF JEAN V. MOREL, LONDON, 1849

Details

A FINE VICTORIAN SILVER CENTERPIECE CANDELABRUM
MARK OF JEAN V. MOREL, LONDON, 1849
The tiered centerpiece on a circular openwork base with scroll feet headed by shells, the domed base chased with rocaille and surmounted by a flower finial, the four scrolling leafy supports headed by shells and floral garlands centering a circular dish with openwork foliate border and issuing four leafy tendril bifurcated arms with leaf-clad sockets and removable nozzles, the dish surmounted by an openwork rocaille and leaf-clad standard supporting a second smaller dish with similar decoration and removable liner, marked under base, on stand, on flower finial, under upper dish, on branches and nozzles, and under dish liner, also stamped on base MOREL & CIE A LONDRES
17¼ in. (43.7 cm.) high; 241 oz. (7507 gr.)

Provenance

Christie's, New York, 20 April 2000, lot 170

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 moved to London and set up a workshop. Despite success at the 1851 Great Exhibition, Morel's London venture was unprofitable and he returned to France in 1852. This centerpiece, dating to 1849, would have been one of Morel's early works during his short tenure in England. Upon his return to France, Morel 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; John Culme, The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1987).

More from Fine English, Continental and American Silver

View All