Silver "marabout" Coffee Pot, Paris, 1764-1765

-  Marabout coffee pot
-  Hammered, cast, and soldered silver; exotic wood handle (ebony?)
-  Paris, 1764-1765
-  Good condition, beautiful patina, fruitwood handle changed in the late 18th century
-  Diameter: 6.2 cm (at the neck) & 8.7 cm (bulged part); height: 11.5 cm (at the knob); length: ; weight (gross): 278g

-  Marabout coffee pot with a rounded body rests on a flat, slightly inward-facing base. The plain body has a bulge at its lower part, rising towards a narrowed neck highlighted by a filleted molding. The hinged lid is bordered by a wide molding covering that of the body. The handle is a flattened molded knob. The spout, held on the side, is highlighted by the molding of the body. The exotic wood side handle is held in place by a threaded hood and molded sleeve.

-  Coffee, known in France since the 16th century, became a fashionable beverage following the reception of Suleiman Aga, emissary of Mehmet IV, at the court of Louis XIV in 1669. In 1693, Marseille, a port facing the East, was granted the privilege of importing it, followed by the creation of coffee houses modeled on those in the Near East. The "marabout" coffee pot is a flat-bottomed coffee pot with a bulging belly, reminiscent of the tombs of soldier-monks or "murabi", hence the name "marabout" cited in the dictionaries of that time. From the end of the 17th century, this object was known in Marseille as a flat-bottomed utensil with a swollen belly without a lid used in the Levant countries, under the name "ibrik." The "Marabout" is part of an evolution of the coffee pot towards the middle of the century, borrowing its shape somewhat from the teapot, without feet, while accentuating its swollen belly and adding a lid to the ibrik. This shape is used for both the coffee pot and the chocolate pot, only the space made for the frothing spout in the lid allowing them to be distinguished.

-  Hallmarks (under the body, in the lid and on the edge of the body): master silversmith (illegible, trace partially legible in the lid): C, ?; charge (under the body, in the lid): a crowned A with a laurel branch, charge for large silver works, Paris from October 1, 1762 to October 1, 1768 ([1], no. 445); jurande (under the body and in the lid): Crowned A from July 18, 1764 to July 12, 1765 ([1] no. 460); discharge (on the edge of the body, under the molding): a braque head, discharge for minor silver and gold works, Paris from October 1, 1762 to October 1, 1768 ([1] no. 448).
-  Réf. : [1] Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle & de Fontaines, Gabriel : « La datation de l’orfèvrerie parisienne sous l’ancien régime», Paris Musées, Paris, 1995 ; [2] Dennis, Faith : « Tree centuries of French Domestic Silver », Metropolitan Museum of New York, New York, 1961