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拍品專文
King Farouk I of Egypt and Sudan (r.1936-1952) was born in 1920 and succeeded his father Fuad I of Egypt. Parties at the King’s Abdine and Koubbeh Palaces in Cairo and at the Montazah Palace in Alexandria were shows of elegance and magnificent wealth. For example, on the occasion of the wedding of the King to Queen Farida, a banqueting table was dressed as extravagantly as the Princesses. It was as laden with silver as the women were with jewels. His extravagance was legendary and he indulged in anything that caught his eye. Farouk had a particular appreciation of ornate, heavily-gilded decorative art and the court followed suit. The imperial style became so fashionable among Egypt's upper classes the King’s reign that it became known as ‘Louis-Farouk.’
The King’s lifestyle was criticised within Egypt during the Second World War. After the War, Egypt entered into a stage of political turbulence and Farouk’s government was scrutinised. A military coup was staged on 23 July 1952 and the Egyptian Revolution began. The revolution forced Farouk to abdicate and the King’s art collection was confiscated by the Egyptian Government. When the auction was announced, newspapers wrote that bidders would be flown to Cairo in ‘special aircraft’ to attend the sale (‘Fly to Farouk’s Sale, The Courier-Mail, 19 September 1952, p. 4). The King’s taste was so fashionable and sought-after that ‘Elegant French women outbid jewellers and art dealers from all over the world’ (‘Farouk’s Treasures, The Canberra Times, 12 March 1954, p. 1).
Of the 328 lots offered in King Farouk’s ‘valuable and extensive collection of silver and silver-gilt,’ the present lot is highlighted in the frontispiece, described as ‘an elaborate silver-gilt ewer by Paul Storr.’ It is further distinguished in the foreword, ‘an imposing highly decorated ewer by Paul Storr (lot 208) is worthy of special mention’ and is illustrated pl. VII, The Palace Collections of Egypt; Koubbeh Palace, 24-25 March 1954.
It is no surprise that King Farouk was drawn to the bold modelling and heavy gauge of the present lot. Those are the same distinguishing features which are characteristic of the work of celebrated silversmith Paul Storr. The mannerist form of the present lot is a less-common occurrence in Storr’s body of work. However, the cast tritons are comparable to another applied on an inkstand of 1828 exhibited at Koopman Rare Art in their recent exhibition Paul Storr: An Exhibition of His Life’s Work, London, 13-31 October 2015, p. 43, cat. no. 94.
Well-known for his ‘mastery of the grandiose neo-classical style,’ Storr made ‘more fine display plate than any other English goldsmith, including Lamerie’ (A. G. Grimwade, London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives, London, 1982, p. 672). Storr ended his exclusive manufacturing agreement with crown jewellers Rundell, Bridge and Rundell in 1819 and founded a workshop with John Mortimer. Christopher Hartop writes that Storr and Mortimer’s Harrison Street workshop had a ‘library of prints and books embracing both classical antiquity and the work of Renaissance and Mannerist artists had become extensive and proved to be an exhaustible source of ideas’ (Art in Industry: The Silver of Paul Storr, Cambridge, 2015, p. 112).
The King’s lifestyle was criticised within Egypt during the Second World War. After the War, Egypt entered into a stage of political turbulence and Farouk’s government was scrutinised. A military coup was staged on 23 July 1952 and the Egyptian Revolution began. The revolution forced Farouk to abdicate and the King’s art collection was confiscated by the Egyptian Government. When the auction was announced, newspapers wrote that bidders would be flown to Cairo in ‘special aircraft’ to attend the sale (‘Fly to Farouk’s Sale, The Courier-Mail, 19 September 1952, p. 4). The King’s taste was so fashionable and sought-after that ‘Elegant French women outbid jewellers and art dealers from all over the world’ (‘Farouk’s Treasures, The Canberra Times, 12 March 1954, p. 1).
Of the 328 lots offered in King Farouk’s ‘valuable and extensive collection of silver and silver-gilt,’ the present lot is highlighted in the frontispiece, described as ‘an elaborate silver-gilt ewer by Paul Storr.’ It is further distinguished in the foreword, ‘an imposing highly decorated ewer by Paul Storr (lot 208) is worthy of special mention’ and is illustrated pl. VII, The Palace Collections of Egypt; Koubbeh Palace, 24-25 March 1954.
It is no surprise that King Farouk was drawn to the bold modelling and heavy gauge of the present lot. Those are the same distinguishing features which are characteristic of the work of celebrated silversmith Paul Storr. The mannerist form of the present lot is a less-common occurrence in Storr’s body of work. However, the cast tritons are comparable to another applied on an inkstand of 1828 exhibited at Koopman Rare Art in their recent exhibition Paul Storr: An Exhibition of His Life’s Work, London, 13-31 October 2015, p. 43, cat. no. 94.
Well-known for his ‘mastery of the grandiose neo-classical style,’ Storr made ‘more fine display plate than any other English goldsmith, including Lamerie’ (A. G. Grimwade, London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives, London, 1982, p. 672). Storr ended his exclusive manufacturing agreement with crown jewellers Rundell, Bridge and Rundell in 1819 and founded a workshop with John Mortimer. Christopher Hartop writes that Storr and Mortimer’s Harrison Street workshop had a ‘library of prints and books embracing both classical antiquity and the work of Renaissance and Mannerist artists had become extensive and proved to be an exhaustible source of ideas’ (Art in Industry: The Silver of Paul Storr, Cambridge, 2015, p. 112).