Louis XVI Mustard Pot In Blue Crystal And Solid Silver With Ram’s Heads

Tripod mustard pot in the Louis XVI idiom. The solid silver mount presents a frieze of interlaced motifs at the upper and lower edges. The uprights receive ram’s heads at their upper part, the curved horns unfolding in volutes and extending into tapered supports ending in hooves. The body is ornamented with garlands of flowers and foliage that link the three ram’s heads in a regular and harmonious rhythm. The handle adopts a broken profile that accords with the sobriety of the whole.

The lid presents a decoration of heart shaped petals and is crowned with a bud finial. The piece is complete with its deep blue crystal liner, blown in a circular form and perfectly fitted.
The swan mark, struck on the lid, the mount and the handle, attests to the importation into France of a European production in solid silver of guaranteed purity.

• Height 5.5 cm
• Length 7.6 cm
• Diameter 4.8 cm

Gross weight 115 grams
Net weight 80 grams

Very good condition

This mustard pot belongs to the nineteenth century revival of the Louis XVI idiom and to the renewed taste for the refined aesthetic associated with Marie Antoinette, which European workshops reinterpret with sensitivity. Ram’s heads feature among the most characteristic motifs of the neoclassical vocabulary. They derive from Greco Roman Antiquity and evoke the ritual universe associated with Ammon as well as the notion of mastered strength. Late eighteenth century bronziers such as GOUTHIER and THOMIRE employ this motif in handles, mounts and architectonic ornaments on luxury objects.

During the nineteenth century, the rediscovery of the Louis XVI idiom inspires creations that combine ram’s heads, floral garlands and interlaced ornament in an interpretation faithful to eighteenth century models while responding to a modern sensibility. The blue crystal adds a chromatic depth much appreciated by collectors and emphasises the refinement of the silverwork. This mustard pot therefore offers an elegant encounter between historical reference, accomplished workmanship and decorative ambition.