A sculpted gold cup, a silver-gilt cup and cover, a shell and bluebells on a partially draped stone ledge; A silver sewing box, an ewer and a pomegranate on a partially draped stone ledge

Meiffren Conte was born in Marseilles around 1630. He started as a decorator of Sedan chairs, then painted portraits and devotional paintings. In 1671 he travelled to Paris where he probably met French imitators of Francesco Fieravino, the still-life painter, and upon his return to Provence, started painting opulent compositions with silverware, rugs and armor. The objects he painted in his compositions were often re-used: the silver-gilt cup and cover he paints here reappers in Fleurs et pièces d'orfèvrerie (sale, Palais des Congrès, Versailles, 13 June 1976, lot 126) and in An ornamental silver ewer, a silver-gilt cup and cover, etc. (Christie's, London, 16 December 1998, lot 146). In 1675 he was appointed peintre des galères du roi (decorator of the king's ships).

A similar work by Meiffren Conte, formerly in the Nureyev collection, sold in these rooms on 11 January 1995 for $130,000.