Estimate

2.500 - 3.500

Session 1

15 March 2022

Hammer Price

Description

Portuguese silver tankard with cover, 19th century
Double body, the inner in plain gilt silver and the outer of profuse repoussé and chiselled decoration with classical female masks, floral and foliage motifs and fruits, interlaced with volutes
Fruit basket lid pommel
Acanthus leaf, foliage motifs and classical bearded mask decoration to handle and neo-medieval thumbpiece with female bust
Marked with King Fernando's gothic F monogram under the Royal Crown and inventory number 36
Maker's mark CIMS for Cirilo José Maz da Silva (L-198.0), registered June, 9th 1826 and Lisbon city mark (L-42.0) for ca. 1822 to ca. 1860

Height: 16 cm
845 g

Category

Silver

Additional Information

Literature:
F. Moutinho de Almeida/Rita Carlos
"Inventário de Marcas de Pratas Portuguesas e Brasileiras"
séc. XV a 1887
pp. 141, 111

Catalogue Essay

An unquestionable defining figure within the Portuguese 19th century cultural panorama, King Fernando II (Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, (Vienna 1816 – Lisbon 1885) would reveal himself, soon after his arrival in Portugal following his marriage to Queen Maria II of Portugal (1819-1853), as a committed and knowledgeable art collector. Amongst the broad scope of his interests, gold smithery certainly occupied a most relevant position as can be assessed from the 1866 inventory of his estate. In this long manuscript list, compiled by the king himself, all the collected objects are described and classified, possible manufacture dates proposed, and technical and aesthetic analyses annotated. This inventory is also revealing in terms of provenances, both in terms of which objects were King Fernando’s own acquisitions and which were gifted to him. Additionally, to dissipate any possible doubts on their ownership, the king also noted at the end of each entry: “Propriedade Minha” (My Own Property). Bequeathed to the Pena National Palace, in whose archive it is now preserved, this important inventory has recently been studied and published on-line, allowing for a deeper knowledge of various objects that have, through time, been dispersed, and are now owned by various public and private collections, or whose location is unknown, as a consequence of the splitting of the inheritance upon the King’s death. The tankard now brought to sale at auction by Veritas is recorded in this inventory list under nr.119, book I, which lists “Objects in silver, gold, etc.”: N.º 119) Caneca de prata por dentro dourada em relevo e cinzelada. Feita no estilo da renaissance, na officina de R. Pinto. Foi-me dada pela rainha D. Maria II de saudosa memoria, é uma bonita peça e tem a particularidade de me ter servido desde os primeiros annos depois da minha chegada a este paiz até ao dia de hoje, para conter a agoa para lavar a bocca; e accompanhou-me em muitas viagens n’este paiz. – Tem tampa móvel. Propr. minha. (Nr. 199) Silver tankard gilded on the inside in reliefs and chiselled. Made in the Renaissance style at the workshop of R. Pinto. It was gifted to me by Queen Maria II of wistful memory, it is an elegant piece and it has the peculiarity of having served me from the early years of my arrival to this country up until
today, to hold water to wash my mouth; and it has accompanied me in many travels through this country. – It has a mobile cover. My Property.) It is thus confirmed that the tankard was made in the workshop of Raimundo José Pinto (1807-1859), the Royal Silversmith that was also, certainly not coincidentally, the main supplier of both antique and modern silver pieces to the King consort. A master goldsmith, Raimundo José Pinto established himself as a businessman and dealer, having owned a very active workshop where Cirilo José Maz da Silva worked and whose mark (registered 1826) has been identified in this the tankard. Raimundo was also the co-owner of the firm Pinto & Sousa, based at Rua da Prata, in Lisbon, which after his death, becomes the renowned jeweller Estevão de Sousa. The inventory also clarifies that the tankard was a gift from Queen Maria II, prematurely dead in 1853, as well as that it was used for the King’s oral hygiene, a fact that explains its plain gilt interior. The fact that it accompanied King Fernando in his travels, from his early days in Portugal, suggests that it was a cherished object, as it can be expected within the Romantic sentimental context of the time, and independently of the antiquity or artistic merit that in general defined his collecting criteria, so clearly assessed from the secular 16th century Portuguese silver collection, partly preserved at Ajuda National Palace. Aware of her husband’s collecting interests, D. Maria gifted him other gold and silver pieces that are also described in the inventory and whose present location remains mostly unknown. D. Fernando refers such gifts in the “memorial diary” written following the Queen’s death, a document also kept in the Portuguese National Archives, a section of which we transcribe herewith: “Maria era tão boa, que prazer ela tinha em adivinhar os meus gostos. Para me ser agradável, ela, que antes não tinha a menor ideia de tais coisas, aprendera a apreciar e a amar as obras de arte. Com que alegria ela me trazia uma gravura de um bom mestre, alguma linda água-forte antiga ou algum belo trabalho em prata ou em prata dourada! Tudo o que veio dela, tudo o que ela arranjou e instalou comigo será sempre querido e precioso!” (Maria was very kind and had genuine pleasure in guessing my tastes. To be agreeable to me, she, who before had no idea of such things, had learned to enjoy and to love works of art. She would joyfully bring me a print by a renowned master, a charming antique etching or some beautiful silver or gilt-silver object! Everything that came from her, everything that she found and fitted with me will always be cherished and precious!). The tankard herewith described was engraved on the base with the King’s ownership mark (gothic script F) and the number 36, corresponding, not to the inventory referred above, but to another list compiled by a secretary in 1858, which is equally preserved at the National Archives. It this inventory it is described as “trabalho moderno, imitando o antigo, com cinco mascarões, sendo um na aza” (modern work copying the antique, with five classical masks, one in the handle). Following King Fernando II’s death it was eventually inventoried in his Necessidades Palace apartments Toilette, under nr. 2283, a detail that suggests that it had maintained the use for which it was originally destined. Described as “replicating Renaissance work” it was valued, for inheritance purposes, at 36 thousand reals. According to this post mortem inventory, also preserved at the National Archives, it became part of the lot inherited by Prince Afonso, Duke of Porto (1865-1920), commonly known as “O Arreda” (The Move Away), for his early interest in automobiles and speed. It was probably disposed of during the prince’s life, as was the case with other objects inherited from his grandfather which were acquired by Counsellor João Arroyo (1861-1930) and subsequently auctioned in the latter 1905 estate sale.

Hugo Xavier

Literature: Hugo Xavier, “Propriedade Minha”: ourivesaria, marfins e esmaltes da coleção de D. Fernando II, Coleções Em Foco | Palácios Nacionais |Sintra Queluz Pena, n.º 4, PSML, 2022. Disponível online em www.parquesdesintra.pt