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INTRODUCTION BY H.R.H. PRINCE MICHAEL OF GREECE Paris, 12 March 2007 H.R.H. Princess Maria Gabriella di Savoia, a profoundly cultivated woman, bears the venerable name she inherited with great dignity. Respectful of this extraordinary heritage, she is now especially keen to keep the memory of her parents, H.M. King Umberto II and H.M. Queen Maria-José of Italy, alive. To this effect she has created a foundation in their name, in which she unites everything that relates to them. The Princess organizes exhibitions as well as hosting conferences that always arouse a great deal of interest. To meet the not inconsiderable burden of inheritance tax pertaining to her mother's estate, she has decided to sell some of the wonderful works of art, paintings, silver and furniture that she inherited from her parents in order to preserve the remaining parts of the collection. -----------------------------NEW PAGE----------------- A SHORT HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF SAVOY The Royal House of Savoy can be traced to Umberto 'the Whitehanded' (d.1048) who acquired Alpine territories as a feudal lord and became first Count of Savoy. His sons and the dynasty that followed progressively acquired influence and land in Piedmont, the territory east of Savoy and south of the Alps and as well as ruling Aosta, which borders Switzerland and France. Amedeo VI (d.1383) called 'the Green Count' for the colour he favoured, being the tincture of the liveries he gave to those who attended his tournaments, founded the Order of the Collar in 1362. Known today as the Order of the Annunciation, it survives as one of the oldest dynastic orders of chivalry. In the late fourteenth century, Amedeo's eight year-old grandson succeeded as Amedeo VIII (d.1451). Though devout, he was a warrior-knight, whose faithful service to the Empire earned him the title 'Duke of Savoy' in 1416. His descendant, Emanuele Filiberto (d.1580) succeeded in 1553 and set about strengthening the House of Savoy's position militarily and administratively. In 1563 he moved the capital of Savoy from Chambéry to Turin. The seventeenth century witnessed a great building program in the city of Turin. The future Royal Palace was completed in 1658, the Carignano Palace in 1680, and the Madama Palace, built in the thirteenth century, was expanded and refurbished. The Holy Shroud of Christ, brought to Turin in 1578, was venerated in a chapel of the Duomo, adding to the city's lustre as an important centre of Catholic Europe. Vittorio Amedeo II, first King of Sardinia (d.1732) ascended the throne in 1675, and though wed to a niece of Louis XIV of France and faithfully adherent to French foreign policy in the early years of his reign, he was not adverse to changing sides when political interests dictated doing so. In the latter part of the seventeenth century he withdrew loyalty from France in order to support the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. When the Spanish refused to acquiesce to Piedmont's takeover of Milan, a separate treaty was written which weighed strongly in Savoy's favour and against the interests of Spain. In the War of the Spanish Succession, Piedmont reunited with France in the opening phase of the conflict. In the early eighteenth century Vittorio Amedeo II aligned with the Habsburgs and the English, and in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht rewarded him with new lands in north-east Italy and a Crown in Sicily. Seven years later Vittorio Amedeo II accepted, in exchange for Sicily, Sardinia, a realm that he could more easily rule from Turin. During the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Sardinia became a refuge for the House of Savoy. In 1831 the succession passed to a branch of the family descended from Tommaso Francesco, Prince of Carignano. Carlo Alberto, (d.1849) succeeded Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia (d.1831), his fifth cousin one generation removed, to become King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy and he in turn was succeeded in 1849 by his son Vittorio Emanuele II (d.1878). Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia and later first King of Italy from 1861, assisted by D'Azeglio, Cavour, Crispi and Garibaldi, acquired for the House of Savoy, Sardinia's sister states and by 1870, with the acquisition of the Papal State, the union was nearly complete. The Risorgimento was a complex and controversial movement, but its result, a united Italy was long overdue. Vittorio Emanuele II's eldest son Umberto I succeeded in 1878. He married a Savoy cousin Margherita (d.1926) and moved the Savoy Court to the Quirinale Palace in Rome and lavishly re-furnished the Villa Reale Monza, Milan. During the nineteenth century the Royal residences included the Quirinale Palace, Moncalieri, Racconigi and Villa Reale Monza. The construction of Villa Reale Monza for Archduke Alexander, son of the Empress of Austria began in 1776, and was executed by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini, who had already collaborated with Luigi Vanvitelli on the design of Caserta. Close to Milan, the Villa Reale of Monza was built as an official residence. The Villa was emptied of most of its furnishings in 1859, many of which were transferred to the Palazzo Reale of Milan for the visit of Napoleon III. From that date, Monza was occupied by Umberto I, the 'Principe di Piemonte'. After his accession in 1878, furniture was purchased in large quantities for the state and private rooms until 1900, the date when the King was assassinated. From then on, Monza rapidly declined and was virtually unused. In 1919, King Vittorio Emanuele III (1869-1947) took the decision to transfer ownership of most of his Royal residences to the Italian State. This date also corresponds to the return of some of Monza's furnishings to Rome, including furniture which had once come from the Quirinale, while many of the furnishings acquired by Umberto I were kept by his family. There are also frequent recorded movements of pieces between Villa Reale di Monza and the private residence of Castello di Racconigi, Turin between 1903 and 1905. With origins in the 12th Century, the palace of Racconigi in Piedmont became a Savoy-Carignano property in 1605 and was transformed into a princely residence. Later the private property of the Royal House of Savoy, Racconigi was gifted with it's contents by King Vittorio Emmanuele III (d.1947) to his son Umberto (d.1983), Prince of Piedmont (later King Umberto II), following his marriage to Princess Maria- José of Belgium in 1930. The pieces that appear in this catalogue are all privately owned. The family residence of Racconigi was acqiured by the Italian State in the 1970s, carefully conserved and later opened as a State Museum in 1980. Born at Racconigi, Umberto was a competent officer well groomed to succeed upon his father's abdication. This he did in 1946, reigning briefly as Umberto II. In a war-torn nation, Umberto and his wife, the admanantly anti-fascist Maria José, campaigned to preserve the monarchy. In June 1946, a popular referendum decided narrowly in favour of a republic and Umberto and Marie-José moved to Portugal. 'Il Re di Maggio', as Umberto was christened by the Italian press, died in Geneva in 1983 and Maria José in 2001. They are both buried in the Abbey of Haute Combe on the shore of Lake Bourget, Savoy; ancestral burial ground of the Savoy family.

A CONTINENTAL SILVER BOX

MAKER'S MARK INDISTINCT, 20TH CENTURY

Details

A CONTINENTAL SILVER BOX
MAKER'S MARK INDISTINCT, 20TH CENTURY
Oval, the detachable cover engraved with a scene of the Castello di Racconigi, the sides engraved with foliage, marked inside base and inside cover
2 in. (5 cm.) wide

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. VAT rate of 17.5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

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