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Lot Essay
THE DESIGN FOR THE WINE-COOLERS
The design for this wine-cooler was discovered in a sale at Drouot held on 4 April 1925. The sale included nineteen drawings with the provenance attributed to Auguste on the basis of the inscription 'auguste' on three of the sheets identified as being in the silversmith's own handwriting. The drawing which relates to the present lot is now in a private collection but was exhibited Paris, Musée Nissim de Camondo, Dessins d'orfèvrerie de l'atelier de Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723-1805), November 2011-April 2012. In an article which accompanied the exhibtion, Y. Carlier notes that the drawing shows two models of wine-cooler, the design on the left being employed for the the Ekaterinoslav Service (1776-1777) and the Count de Povolide services, and the design on the right for the Nijni-Novgorod and Kazan services. It is the right-hand design which is closest to the Cadaval wine-cooler. The design is reminiscent of the work of the pastellist Jean-Baptiste Delafosse (1721-1806).
Robert-Joseph Auguste and his son Henri supplied silver to a number of the leading families of Portugal including the Royal family. Other silver made for the Dukes of Cadaval included a four-light candelabrum by Henri Auguste (sold Christie's, New York, 11 April 1995, lot 157), and a soup-tureen, cover and stand by Robert-Joseph Auguste (sold Christie's, London, 9 June 2011, lot 50). For further information on Robert-Joseph Auguste please see lot 33).
THE DUKE OF CADAVAL
Miguel Caetano Álvares Pereira de Melo, 5th Duke of Cadaval, was born on 6 February 1765. He inherited the title and estates from his father as a minor in 1771. The title had been created by King João IV of Portugal in 1645 for his cousin, Dom Nuno Àlvares Pereira de Melo, Marquis of Ferreira and Count of Teintgal (1638-1727). The Duke married Madeleine de Montmorency-Luxembourg, daughter of the Duke of Luxembourg, in Lisbon in October 1791. She is described by Laure Junot, Duchess of d'Abrantes in her Memoirs of Napoleon, his Court and Family (London, 1832, vol. 4, p. 247) as having 'great charms of person, grace of manners, a cultivated mind and an excellent heart'. She continued '...The Duchess is universally beloved and esteemed in Portugal'. She is less complimentary about the Duke, whom she conceeds was young and handsome when the couple married, but was now addicted to gambling, allowing his wife to run all his affairs.
The design for this wine-cooler was discovered in a sale at Drouot held on 4 April 1925. The sale included nineteen drawings with the provenance attributed to Auguste on the basis of the inscription 'auguste' on three of the sheets identified as being in the silversmith's own handwriting. The drawing which relates to the present lot is now in a private collection but was exhibited Paris, Musée Nissim de Camondo, Dessins d'orfèvrerie de l'atelier de Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723-1805), November 2011-April 2012. In an article which accompanied the exhibtion, Y. Carlier notes that the drawing shows two models of wine-cooler, the design on the left being employed for the the Ekaterinoslav Service (1776-1777) and the Count de Povolide services, and the design on the right for the Nijni-Novgorod and Kazan services. It is the right-hand design which is closest to the Cadaval wine-cooler. The design is reminiscent of the work of the pastellist Jean-Baptiste Delafosse (1721-1806).
Robert-Joseph Auguste and his son Henri supplied silver to a number of the leading families of Portugal including the Royal family. Other silver made for the Dukes of Cadaval included a four-light candelabrum by Henri Auguste (sold Christie's, New York, 11 April 1995, lot 157), and a soup-tureen, cover and stand by Robert-Joseph Auguste (sold Christie's, London, 9 June 2011, lot 50). For further information on Robert-Joseph Auguste please see lot 33).
THE DUKE OF CADAVAL
Miguel Caetano Álvares Pereira de Melo, 5th Duke of Cadaval, was born on 6 February 1765. He inherited the title and estates from his father as a minor in 1771. The title had been created by King João IV of Portugal in 1645 for his cousin, Dom Nuno Àlvares Pereira de Melo, Marquis of Ferreira and Count of Teintgal (1638-1727). The Duke married Madeleine de Montmorency-Luxembourg, daughter of the Duke of Luxembourg, in Lisbon in October 1791. She is described by Laure Junot, Duchess of d'Abrantes in her Memoirs of Napoleon, his Court and Family (London, 1832, vol. 4, p. 247) as having 'great charms of person, grace of manners, a cultivated mind and an excellent heart'. She continued '...The Duchess is universally beloved and esteemed in Portugal'. She is less complimentary about the Duke, whom she conceeds was young and handsome when the couple married, but was now addicted to gambling, allowing his wife to run all his affairs.