Koopman Rare Art
12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Koopman Rare Art 12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Koopman Rare Art 12 Dover Street Mayfair, London W1S 4LL Tel: +44 (0)20 7242 7624 info@koopman.art www.koopman.art 2
Koopman Rare Art
Koopman Rare Art Dear Friends and Colleagues,
After over half a century of successful activity, Koopman Rare Art has moved to its new astounding location in 12 Dover Street in Mayfair. To celebrate the exciting opening at this new address, we decided to give relevance to twelve exceptional pieces: 12 pieces for 12 Dover Street! This splendid catalogue presents to you a lavish and varied selection of English and European silver, gold boxes and jewellery from our collection. With silversmiths of the calibre of Paul Storr and Gustave Odiot and world famous jewellers such as Buccellati, each object in this catalogue has been carefully selected to promote the artistic diversity and quality that our new gallery exhibits and to offer you, as always, alluring and tempting treasures. We are also proud to announce that , over the next couple of weeks, we will launch our recently renovated, modern and functional website and Member’s Area, where you will have access to the entire Koopman Rare Art collection, prices and details of exciting future events. Any enquiries on pieces you are interested in, comments and suggestions from you, enthusiasts, are always gladly received. We look forward to warmly welcoming you to 12 Dover Street!
Lewis, Timo and the Team at Koopman Rare Art
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Hunt and Roskell Sir Daniel Gooch Tazzas
A Historic Pair of silver-gilt 19th-century figural tazzas Victorian, London, 1872 Maker’s mark of John Hunt & Robert Roskell Also stamped with the retailer’s mark of Hunt & Roskell together with the model number 6118 Height: 25.6 cm Weight: 3458.64 , 122 oz 3 dwt
This monumental pair of silver-gilt tazzas made in 1872, feature bases with the cast and applied coat-of-arms of Sir Daniel Gooch (1816-1889), together with the city coats-of-arms of London and Bristol. The tazzas stand on four-leaf clover bases decorated with acanthus and eclectic cast and applied leaf decorations, typical of the Victorian style, where naturalism was extremely popular.
a widely used design that earned Hunt and Roskell much fortune. The origins can be traced back to the porcelain figurines brought into fashion by the Messein factory and widely reproduced by French manufacturers. The Meissen Porcelain or “Dresden Porcelain” was one of the first European companies of porcelain to use technical manufacturing processes, developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus and his assistant Johann Friedrich Böttger, who had the merit to introduce the pieces to the market.
The bases feature a continuous spiraling telegraph cable. Sir Daniel Gooch was, in fact, an English mechanical engineer known for being chief engineer of the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company. In this role, he was instrumental in laying the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable, using the SS Great Eastern. Sir Daniel Gooch was also head of the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and its President from 1865 to 1889. It is, therefore, fair to presume that these tazzas were presented to him by the cities of London and Bristol for his excellent engineering achievement.
The most famous maker being Johann Joachim Kändler, who worked for the porcelain factory at Meissen for 44 years. Silversmiths later adopted the design for these minor figures in France, as demonstrated by Ambroise-Nicolas Cousinet in the statuettes in gilded silver dressed in fancy costumes and representing Chinese, French or Hungarian men and women.
A couple of figures dressed in eighteenth-century clothes stand on both bases of the cups: the female figures bear a basket of freshly picked flowers while the male figures, a branch. These figures represent
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Gustave Odiot A Naturalistic pair of Leaf Serving Dishes Paris, circa 1860 Lenght over handle: 19,3 cm , 7.5 in Height: 5 cm, 1.9 in Weight: 740 g, 26 oz
This splendid pair of French plates dating back to the 1860’s was made by Gustave Odiot, who succeeded his father Charles Nicolas in the Maison Odiot.
the Meissen factory. This was later a source of influence in England, especially in the porcelain factories of Chelsea, Worchester and Longton Hall, Staffordshire.
The world-famous Maison Odiot was founded in 1690, during the reign of Louis XIV, by Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot. His grandson Jean-Baptiste Claude was famous for the many prestigious commissions he received from the Emperor. These including Napoleon’s coronation sword and scepter and the Emperor’s campaign dinner service. Gustave Odiot continued his successful career by becoming the supplier by appointment to the court of His Majesty, Tsar Alexander II of Russia.
Later, during the 19th-Century, with an increasingly pressing interest in naturalism in the decorative arts that would later lead to the birth of the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movement in England, the design was also adopted by Silversmiths such as Odiot.
The shape of both dishes is achieved by overlapping large leaves of various nature worked both on the front and the back of the plate, while the handles take the form of a sturdy stem with a flower bud attached. Naturalistically modelled plates were highly appreciated in mid-18th-century europe. The fashion probably originated with the spectacular porcelain made in France and Germany at
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
A German Silver-Gilt and Enamel Cup Probably Augsburg, circa 1700 Height: 5.5 cm, 2.1 in Weight: 66 gr, 2 oz 2 dwt
This cup stands on a small finely worked gilded base, while the enamelled main body bears three cartouches representing the allegories of the Arts by use of finely painted cherubs.
During the 18th-century, enamelling was also successfully adopted in Germany: first in Nuremberg and then later in Dresden and Augsburg. The Augsburg gold enamel painting technique worked in three areas mainly: glasses, liqueur jars or liqueur services and more significant tea and coffee sets, of which this small cup could have been part of.
This small cup might have been part of a much more extensive service comprising either a second cup or, given the tiny size, three other cups, their respective underplates, a teapot and possibly an elaborate gold stand as observable in some splendid examples mostly produced in Augsburg.
The design for these handleless cups, called Koppchen, was based on those adopted in East Asia. On the other hand, the decoration could not be more Western: thanks to the enamels, the objects could be carriers of finely crafted images representing cycles of seasons, months or mythological and historical scenes.
The enamelling technique involves a glass paste being applied to the metal and then heated to melt it on the surface. The enamel finish can be translucent or opaque, depending on the temperature used to melt the glass. Higher temperatures result in a more transparent and durable glaze, while lower temperatures result in a dull and brittle surface. Of ancient origin, the technique, from the middle ages to the 17th-century, was adopted with great success in France, where Limoges became one of the leading centres of enamel production in Europe.
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
A Victorian Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond Brooch Late 19th century
Length: 7cm, 2.7 in
Designed as a lizard, this magnificent brooch is set with a series of graduated circular-cut sapphires and rose-cut diamonds, and presents cabochon emerald eyes. The brooch also features a fitted case stamped DS Lavender.
antique rose-cut diamonds, which were by this point being largely replaced by the more popular circular-cut diamond, lends an alluring sparkle to this rare and beautiful jewel. An earlier example of the salamander motif in jewellery from the Salting Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, dating to the late 16th Century, can be seen in Geoffrey C. Munn. Triumph of Love: Jewellery 1530-1900. London: Thames and Hudson, 1993, and another of similar date was found as part of the famed Cheapside Hoard, now housed in the Museum of London, item A14125.
Lizards, or rather salamanders, were a favourite motif in Victorian jewellery. Salamanders were thought to be able to resist flames – a myth that had its foundations in the Talmud and in the writings of Pliny the Elder, and persisted throughout the Renaissance, when they were popular heraldic devices. By the Victorian era, the mythological association of salamanders with fire and heat had long made them symbols of passionate love, and gifting a salamander brooch to a lover was the perfect expression of one’s burning desire to be with them.
PROVENANCE: D S Lavender.
Victorian jewellers excelled in creating jewels of increasing realism, as shown by the beautifully three-dimensional treatment of the salamander and its sinuous pose. The choice of deep blue sapphires is unusual and striking, as green stones (such as demantoid garnets) were more commonly used for the salamander’s skin. Finally, the use of
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Augustin Le Sage A George III Silver Wager Cup London, 1755 Maker’s Mark of Augustin Le Sage Height: 19cm, 7.4 in Weight: 280 gr, 9.87 oz
This splendid cup is an 18th-century example of a wager cup, a type of cup in the shape of a woman with raised arms that supports the side handles of a small gimbal-type cup that swivels in a bracket frame. The wide skirt of the woman constitutes a fixed cup of larger dimensions as well.
In this period, a particular category of cup became extremely popular: that of game cups or puzzle cups. A series of examples produced in Northern Europe of spectacular design and functionality belong to this group, as exemplified by the windmill cups or dice cups produced in the Netherlands.
During the 16th-century, this style of cup was adopted at weddings to accompany small desserts with wine. Traditionally, the groom drank from the larger cup formed by the skirt, and the bride drank from the smaller cup held above the figures’ heads.
The interest in cups and game cups later spread to England, where the wager cup became extremely popular. During the Victorian era, it was specifically used during a wedding drinking game where men bet on whether they could finish one cup without spilling from the other.
The origin of these objects dates back to Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Holland in the 16th-century, where the aristocratic craze for these cups grew considerably. The interest for this particular object is denoted by the massive and varied production that, from more austere forms, soon evolves into flamboyant dimensions, shapes and measures. From the pineapple cup to the globe-shaped cup to the zoomorphic ones, the banquets of Northern Europe were swarming with silver and gold objects of the most disparate guises.
In addition to representing a splendid silver example of these surprising and ingenious objects, this wager cup constitutes one of the rare, and therefore exceptional, cases of wager cups belonging to the 18th-century. Most of the English-made wager cups date back, in fact, to the following century.
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Robert Garrard II A Pair of Victorian Wine Coasters of extremely heavy gauge London, 1837 Maker’s Mark of Robert Garrard II Height: 8.5 cm, 3.34 in Diameter: 16 cm, 6.2 in
This pair of wine coasters presents an extraordinarily elaborate gallery of pierced harvesting bacchic putti, goats and vine branches with delicately chased leaves set within a scheme of both plain and chased rocaille scrolls. To the underside of each are four casters, an uncommon feature in wine coasters such as these, adding to their rarity.
From here, the family then naturally expanded and divided into different branches, the leader of which was, however, the Chief of the Kilkerran Ferguson who had been recognized by the Lord Lyon of Scotland. These coasters were likely commissioned by Sir Charles Dalrymple Ferguson, 5th Baronet (18001849), to mark the occasion of his succession to the estates of his grandfather in the same year in which the coasters were made by Garrard.
To the base, engraved are the coats-of-arms of the Ferguson Clan of Scotland with the motto ‘Dulcius Ex Asperis’ (Sweeter after difficulties). Additionally, within the border, there is a cast and applied crest of three boars on an Azure blue shield with a buckle in the centre – one of the most familiar Ferguson Clan crests. Medieval historians trace the clan’s origin to a Fergus, who lived in Ireland around 300 BC, who is generally credited as the progenitor of the Scottish monarchy - historians believe that nearly all successive kings and queens of Scotland are of the same lineage of early Fergusons. Members of the Ferguson clan subsequently left Ireland around 500 AD. destined for the coasts of Scotland and established a colony in the Argyll region, which they named Dalriada.
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Adrien Jean Maximilien Vachette A French Gold and Hardstone Snuff-Box Paris, 1797 Marked, Paris, struck with the Parisian Standard mark for gold 1797. The Parisian post-revolutionary unofficial standard mark for 18ct gold and the 1809 Parisian review mark for small gold. Dimension: 8cm x 6 cm, 3.1 x 2.3 in Height: 2 cm, 0.7 in Weight: 130 g, 4,5 oz This special snuff box was realised by the hands of Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette in 1797 and features a massively beautiful and precious carnelian stone. The lower part, the sides and the edges surrounding the hardstone are made of gold finely decorated with motifs reminiscent of the grooves of a classic frieze. Moreover, the sides are further adorned with four small Corinthian columns.
inventive use of materials to decorate the boxes drew on micro-mosaics, tortoiseshell, Japanese lacquer, miniatures and semiprecious stones, as in this particular case. The carnelian used by Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette for this snuffbox is exceptional: the most precious colour of this particular variety of chalcedony is the red-orange one (due to the presence of iron oxides), as visible in this example. If the stone is exposed to a light source, it is possible to observe the spectacular morphological characteristics of the hard stone and its natural semi-transparency.
On the inside, the gold is struck with the Parisian Standard mark for gold 1797, the Parisian post-revolutionary unofficial standard mark for 18ct gold and the 1809 Parisian review mark for small gold. Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette was a very talented French goldsmith who became a master at the young age of twenty-six. During his long career, both before and after the French Revolution, Vachette was associated with Marie-Etienne Nitot, Napoleon I’s jeweller, and Charles Ouizille, who provided jewellery to Louis XVIII and Charles X. Vachette was also Jean- Valentin Morel’s mentor, chef d’atelier of the goldsmith Fossin who supplied Prince Anatole Demidoff. While Vachette’s early works resemble those of his master P.F Drais, his
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Paul Storr A pair of George III Warwick Vase Wine Coolers London, 1819 Maker’s mark of Paul Storr Length over handles: 36 cm, 14 in. Height: 24.5 cm, 9.6 in. Weight: 12, 306 g, 396 oz.
This wonderful pair of silver vases is modeled on the Warwick vase, on a square plinth and with an enlarged foot, the body cast and chased with a band of acanthus foliage and with a pelt and Bacchic masks, and applied under the egg and dart border with a band of creepers, with two rods intertwined wine handles, with a compliant collar and lining, marked near the lugs, inside the collar and on the lining, the bases further imprinted ‘GREEN, WARD ET GREEN , LONDINI FECERUNT ‘.
Gavin Hamilton, a Scottish painter-antiquarian, and is now in the Burrell Collection near Glasgow in Scotland. Hamilton sold the fragments to Sir William Hamilton, who was a British envoy to the court of Naples.
Founded in 1789, Green & Ward quickly rose to rival the Rundell & Bridge company at the turn of the century. Paul Storr first worked for them in 1780. The company supplied the Wellington Shield, designed by Thomas Stothard and made by Benjamin Smith in 1822, which was presented to the Duke of Wellington by London merchants and bankers. Green & Ward also supplied the 1816 gilt silver candlestick, made by Benjamin Smith, to the Duke of Wellington. Both are now at Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, London.
The rich ornamentation and the classical-inspired shape gave the Warwick vase an excellent fascination for the nineteenth-century collector’s eye.
The vase was restored by Sir William Hamilton and later passed into the collection of Hamilton’s nephew, George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, from whom it took the name to became known as the “Warwick Vase”.
However, the design owes its success to two exceptional engravings that Giovanni Battista Piranesi made of the vase once restored and reassembled. The engravings were dedicated to Sir William, and were then included in Piranesi’s 1778 publication, “Vasi, candelabri, cippi ...” which almost certainly increased its desirability on the market and led to the realisation of numerous copies in silver, bronze and even porcelain.
The Warwick Vase is an ancient Roman marble vase with Bacchic ornament that was discovered in Villa Adriana near Tivoli, Rome, around 1771 by
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
Buccellati A Gold Parure decorated with vine leaves
Necklace
Bangle
Earrings
Length 410mm, width 16mm Signed F. Buccellati, inscribed 750 for 18 carat gold, stamped with maker’s mark 15 MI for Buccellati
Inner circumference 160mm, width 14mm Signed F. Buccellati, inscribed 750 for 18 carat gold
Each measuring 28 x 15mm Clip and post fittings Each signed F. Buccellati, marked 750 for 18 carat gold
74 grams
30 grams
Combined weight 8 grams
Comprising of a necklace, composed of articulated links designed as clusters of vine leaves in bicoloured gold, the surface with fine segrinato engraving, to a concealed clasp, together with a hinged bangle designed as a line of segrinato oak leaves within a frame of tree branches, and a pair of earrings modelled as oak leaves.
The aesthetic he had created was entirely his own, and the intricate techniques he championed would become the lifeblood of his company for generations to come. Upon his death in 1967, four of his five sons followed him into the jewellery business – one of whom was Federico, the maker of these jewels.
This extraordinary set of gold jewels, each exquisitely modelled from leaves of grape vines and oak trees, is an excellent example of the distinctive style of the Italian dynasty of jewellers, Buccellati.
These jewels date from the latter part of the 1960s – the necklace can be dated almost exactly to 1967, as it bears an Italian hallmark which was phased out the following year. As such, it would have been among the first jewels to bear Federico’s initials, shortly after his father’s death that same year.
The firm was founded by Mario Buccellati (18911965), the son of a goldsmith in Ancona, central Italy. As a teenager he worked at the jewellers Beltrami & Besnati, taking it over and renaming it Buccellati at the young age of 28. Buccellati’s explosive debut at the Madrid Exposition was an instant success – his collection of intricately pierced and engraved jewels inspired by Italian Renaissance brocade and lace entirely sold out, and his natural personal charisma made a lasting impression on the public.
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
George Methuen A pair of George II Silver oval pedestal Sauce Boats London , 1746
Lenght with handle: 21 cm, 8.2 in Height: 15.5 cm, 6.1 in Weight: 1084 g, 38 oz
This exceptional pair of George II silver oval pedestal sauce boats present leaf-capped scroll handles and scroll moulded rims that dip multiple times midway on the sides, as typical of the period. The bases are shaped in oval outline while the primary body is engraved with a motto ‘Essayez’ above the Dundas crest, possibly for Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas (16 February 1741 – 14 June 1820), known as Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet from 1781 to 1794.
the organisation of an Englishman’s table. During the 18th-century, in fact, the silver dinner service underwent a progressive shift from the sideboard display to the table. The change was due to the introduction of the so-called Service à la française (French dinner Service), which consisted in the custom of placing the first course on the table prior to the diners‘ arrival. Consequently, the diners would serve themselves from the choice of dishes within reach.
The name Dundas (when read, the emphasis should be on the second syllable) comes from a place near Edinburgh, which, in Gaelic, was “dun deas” (strong south). The first evidence of the name seems to date back to the middle ages with Helias de Dundas during the reign of William the Lion in 1200. According to historians, Helias de Dundas may have been a descendant of Gospatrick, Earl of March. What is certain is that from this moment on, his descendants called themselves Dundas.
The plates were organised to allow a fair distribution of dishes, mimicking a specific layout where the minor plates were organised around a large centrepiece. Suggested dinner layout engravings can be observed in The Modern Cook (2nd edition, 1736) made by Vincent La Chapelle, cook to Lord Chesterfield, or in The Experienced English Housekeeper, (4th edition, 1775) by Elizabeth Raffald.
The motto of the Dundas clan is “Essayez”, which means “Try” and corresponds to the inscription engraved above the crest with the muzzle of a lion. The production period of this pair of sauce boats corresponds to a time of significant changes in
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
A French Snuff-Box, the lacquer panels 18th-Century, the gold mounts, Claude-Henry Lemercier Paris, 1819-1833 Dimension: 7,8 x 5,8 cm , 3x2.2 in Height: 3 cm, 1.1 in Weight: 126 g, 4,4 oz
This French snuff-box of exceptional quality features six early 18th-century black panels made with the lacquer technique. Five (the side panels and the top) are richly and finely decorated with the inlay technique and represent antique ruins. At the same time, the cover panel also features a natural port and a frigate in the background. The gold mounts were realised later by Claude-Henry Lemercier in Paris around 1819-1833.
possession of such rare and exotic objects. The assembling of black lacquer panels with a later-era mount is not unusual during the 18th-century in France. The panels, especially if of oriental importation, were often cut from the original boxes and sold by marchand-merciers to goldsmiths such as Claude-Henry Lemercier. Although the disassembly of Japanese or Japanese-inspired lacquer panels may seem almost like an act of vandalism, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was a widespread practice in France and showed a deep appreciation for this oriental technique and the willingness to incorporate it into the French tradition.
Although Japan was a veritable enigma to most of eighteenth-century Europe, imported Japanese lacquers and Japanese-style imitation lacquerware became hugely successful in French courts. The eighteenth-century French royal taste for Japanese lacquers culminated spectacularly in the collection of Queen Consort Marie-Antoinette, who inherited fifty majestic boxes from her mother, Maria Teresa, and subsequently began commissioning elaborate furniture that incorporated lacquered panels which she would later exhibit in Versailles. However, the fascination for Japanese lacquer involved not only the sovereigns but also the aristocrats who wished to demonstrate their political and economic value through the
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12 Pieces for 12 Dover Street
John Bridge An Elegant Pair of Parcel-Gilt Silver Swan Candlesticks London, 1825 Maker’s mark of John Bridge Height: 17.5 cm, 6.75 in Weight: 1,939g, 62 oz.
This exceptional pair of candlesticks is supposedly the earliest and most exhibited version adopting the famous swan and shell design. Each candlestick presents a shaped triangular base cast with shells and supporting three swans with outstretched necks. These, in turn, surround a foliate stem surmounted by floral and berry-clad capitals. The candlesticks also feature removable petal-shaped sconces. The bases are stamped with the mark of the Royal retailers in Latin for Rundell Bridge and Rundell.
During the 16th-century, Plymouth established pre-eminence as a commercial port for the trade of goods arriving from the colonies and the Americas. The city of Plymouth’s affirmation as a maritime and port power is possibly the reason why the Earls of Plymouth chose the design with excellent references to aquatic flora and fauna. The design with swans and shells of these candlesticks was inspired by the Duchess of Sutherland’s one for a table with similar base made by George J Morant as illustrated in The Great Exhibition Catalogue, London, 1851, vol. II pl. 34 p.745.
The bases and the sconces feature the crest and coronet of the Earls of Plymouth, for Other Archer Windsor, 7th Earl of Plymouth (17851833). In 1811, he married Mary (1792-1864), first daughter of John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset at her family’s estate Knole, Kent. The Earl and Countess lived at Knole for several years following her mother’s death in 1825, and these candlesticks were probably commissioned then.
PROVENANCE: Other Archer, 7th Earl of Plymouth (1785-1833) married at Knole in 1811 Mary, daughter of 3rd Duke of Dorset (1792-1864);
Plymouth is a seaside town located in the southwest of England in the county of Devon. It is located near the rivers Plym and Tamar and dominates the bay of Plymouth, which throughout history became a thriving port for the traffic of goods.
Trustees of the Knole Estates, sold Christie’s, London, May 20, 1987, lot 134; Al-Tajir collection
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12 PIECES FOR 12 DOVER STREET Designed by Giorgia Zen Catalogue entries written by Giorgia Zen and Koopman colleagues Jewellery catalogue entries written by Samuel Hug Photography by Karen Bengall
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