Sale
15928 - Fine Silver and Objects of Vertu, 19 Nov 2008
New Bond Street
Lot No: 144Y
Foreign silver A Louis XV silver and ivory side handled chocolate-pot
by Francois-Thomas Germain, Paris 1764,
plain pear shape engraved with a band of geometric scrolls to upper section and cover, raised on three scroll feet, the beak-formed spout with hinged cover and embellished with flutes and scrollwork on a matted ground, the slightly domed and hinged cover with separate swivel-action discoid and ball finial, engraved with armorial opposite handle, height 18cm, weight 24oz.
Sold for £57,600 inclusive of Buyer's Premium
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Email: Rupert Slingsby
Tel: +44 (0) 207 468 8241
Footnote:
Francois-Thomas Germain (b.1726 - d.1791), at the young age twenty-two, and after being trained and becoming a master silversmith at his father's (Thomas Germain) workshop, he inherited not only his father's models, his huge atelier, his staff, but also the clientele; royalty and aristocracy. Throughout his career he worked for Louis XV and the French and Portuguese Courts. Unfortunately few of the commissions of the former Court survive, however commissions for the latter do. Pieces from the dinner service for the Court of Portugal were purchased by members of the Russian Court after the earthquake of 1757 in Lisbon.
1765 saw the downfall of Germain's workshop, this was no doubt due to the perennial problem of late payment and clients never paying for Germain's masterly and exquisite silver. He was forced by the French silver guild to declare bankruptcy, he was then dismissed from his post of Royal silversmith and his brilliant career was over after leaving Paris in 1778.
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