A Magnificent Pair of Ewers

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Silver-Gilt
George V
London, 1923
Maker's mark of The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company

Height: 43cm, 16.9in.
Weight: 7,516g, 241oz 12dwt

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Description

The ewers would have been inspired after a design by Sigisbert-François Michel (1728-1811), of classical form, one for wine, decorated with a satyr seated at the shoulder, its arms around the neck and holding the horns of a goat's head mask, with interlaced strap handle, the body swagged with fruiting vines, the lower section matted with stiff leaf decoration, on a fluted, foliate bordered pedestal base with keyed square plinth, the second for water, of identical form but decorated with a triton at the shoulder, holding the horns of a dolphin, the body swagged with aquatic leaves.

The design for this pair of ewers probably originated in a pair of plaster vases, one decorated with a triton and one with a satyr, symbolizing water and wine, exhibited at the Académie de Saint-Luc in Paris in 1774 by Sigisbert-François Michel (1728-1811), nephew of Claude Michel, known as Clodion (1738-1814)