Pair Of Melted Silver Salt Cellars By Beaudet, Paris, 1779-1780

- Pair of salt cellars
- Cast and chiseled silver, blue glass 
- By Jean-Joseph Beaudet: received master goldsmith in 1782 (?)
- Paris, 1779-1780
- Diameter: 6.3cm, height: 4.6cm; weight: 150g (70 & 80g)
- Very good condition, some wear to the carving, a chip on one of the salt cellars glass

- Pair of round salt cellars in molten silver supported by three deer hooves topped with a fluted pilaster. Separating three panels formed of symmetrical scrolls made of acanthus leaves and blooming flowers. One of the panels bears an oval medallion held by a knot on which is engraved a coat of arms surmounted by a count's crown: azure with three alternating bands of gold and silver (indeterminate). This model was made by both Jean-Joseph Beaudet and Joseph-Etienne Vancombert, of which a series from each goldsmith, from 1779-80 and 1784-85 respectively, is kept at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris by a bequest of Moïse de Camondo ( Inv. CAM 282, Pavilion de Marsan exhibition, “French goldsmithing”, 1926, n°168).

- Hallmarks: master goldsmith: J, J, B with a crowned rooster, for Jean-Joseph Beaudet, Parisian master goldsmith from 1782 (?) to 1806 (at least) [Nocq, TI p.82]; charge: a figure of interlaced L for gold and medium silver works, Paris from November 18, 1774 to July 13, 1780 [1, n°487]; warden's mark: Q crowned, Paris from July 21, 1779 to July 15, 1780 [1, n°502]; discharge: a monkey's head for gold and small silver items, Paris from November 18, 1774 to July 13, 1780 [1, n°489].
-  Ref. : [1] Bimbenet-Privat & Fontaines : "La datation de l’orfèvrerie parisienne sous l’ancien régime", Paris musées, 1995 ; [2] Nocq, Henri : "Répertoire des maîtres-orfèvres de la juridiction de Paris depuis le Moyen-ÀÂge jusqu'à la fin du dix-huitième siècle", 5 Tomes, 1926 ; [3] Mabille, Gérard : "Orfèvrerie française des XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles…", Flammarion, 1993