Estimate

6.000 - 9.000

Session 1

15 March 2022

Hammer Price

Description

Blown and molded crystal
Geometric and foliage motifs decoration
Grooved base of concentric circles
Cup with monogram MP surmounted by engraved and gilt diagonal royal crown
2 decanters, 1 water jug, 1 beer cup, 8 sorbet cups, 18 water glasses, 16 red wine glasses, 13 Reno wine glasses, 17 Port glasses, 17 Madeira wine glasses, 17 anise liqueur glasses, 17 champagne glasses, 16 champagne flutes, and 18 punch cups
157 pieces in total
France, circa 1901-1902
(minor losses, chips to the bottles bases)

Height: 33 cm (decantador maior)

Category

Glass

Additional Information

Provenance:
Colecção Dr. Ricardo Espírito Santo Silva, palácio do Sobralinho, Alverca.
Adquiridos pela Rainha Dona Maria Pia em Paris em 1902 nos armazéns Grand Dépôt

About The National Palace of Ajuda Glass Collection

The heterogeneous character of the glass collection at the Palace of Ajuda coincides with the period during which, King Luís I (1838-1889) and Queen Maria Pia of Savoy (1847-1911), made the Palace their official Lisbon residence. Perhaps due to her Italian origins, Queen Maria Pia of Savoy had a true passion for glass. Throughout her 48 years in Portugal, between 1862 and 1910, the Queen was an avid collector of a variety of decorative and utilitarian objects, lighting equipment, mirrors, drinking glass and dressing table sets from all the main and most renowned European glass makers. An assiduous traveller in the context of her time, Queen Maria Pia undertook numerous European trips, having visited, often more than once, such cities as Madrid, Paris, Nice, Vienna, London, Carlsbad, Turin – her birthplace, Rome, Venice and Murano. Researching her diaries, note books and personal records, as well as those from her accompanying ladies-in-waiting, extant purchase receipts and specialised catalogues, it is possible to find many references to the most fashionable and prestigious European department stores and glassmaker’s showrooms such as A La Paix, Grand Dépot, Au Bon Marché, Baccarat, Moser, J&L Lobmeyr, Compagnia di Venezia e Murano and Salviati & Co., which she visited in her travels and from which she acquired numerous glass objects. In addition to personal visits, the Queen had specialised illustrated catalogues sent to her in Lisbon, from which she could order her chosen pieces.
The personal interest for interior decoration and a sophisticated taste for the applied arts, which include the arts of the table, were undoubtedly related to the Queen’s character. It is evident that her taste evolved, and that her refined, precise and contemporary awareness weighed on her preferences for the best and most fashionable pieces in the market. From vast table sets, emblematic of luxury living in private or state occasions, to dressing table sets, drinking verres d’eau or liqueur, refreshment or bedroom sets, the Queen’s purchases were enriched by specific ownership or heraldic motifs, such as individual monograms - “MP”, “LI”, “LM” or “LMP”, often interlinked and surmounted by the Royal Crown, the Portuguese Royal Shield or the combined armorial shield for the Braganza-Savoy alliance. In this instance, the important drinking glass set that we are bringing to sale, features the Queen’s interlaced monogram “MP” surmounted by an elegant Royal Crown. The purchase invoice for this service is kept at Ajuda National palace archive, where it’s described as “Service Cristal torses et rinceaux riches”. This invoice issued by the Grand Dépôt on March 19, 1902 allows us to consider that this service may have been acquired during the Queen's stay in Paris in the year of 1901. In the collection of the Ajuda National palace there are 16 pieces of this service. VERITAS Art auctioneers would like to thank Dr. Maria João Burnay, curator of the Glass Collection at Ajuda National palace, for her availability to help us studying this service.

Tiago Franco Rodrigues

Literature: AA.VV. – “A royal lunch. A visita a Sintra da Rainha Alexandra do Reino Unido. 24 de Março de 1905” Parques de Sintra Monte da Lua, 2019 Maria João Burnay – “Dos revilalismos ao movimento secessionista vienense: Vidros da Boémia da Rainha D. Maria Pia” in AA.VV.- Colecções de arte em Portugal e Brasil nos séculos XIX e XX. Colecções Reais e colecções oficiais, Caleidoscópio, Lisboa, 2020, pp. 115 a 131.