Louis XV Period Covered Ecuelle - Goldsmith Etienne-hème Maisonrouge - Paris 1728-1729

Louis XV period covered bowl
Solid silver
Goldsmith Etienne-Hème Maisonrouge, active in Paris from 1722 to 1746 [Nocq III p.179]
Paris, 1728-1729
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L ~28 cm
Ø ~17 cm
H ~11.5 cm
799 g
Very good overall condition
Micro-shocks and scratches from use
Small old repair to reverse of lid
Superb patina
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The bowl
Beautiful plain silver basin.
The handles, in cast silver, have been given a radiating decoration of alternating gadroons and fluting.
Unidentified coat of arms [azure, a tree between two rocks].
Old collector's label.

The lid
The doucine lid, with its pearled gadroon rim, is topped by a sunburst gadroonterrace of radiating sunburst gadroons on a very fine amati background. The knob is adorned with a beautiful antique-style woman's profile, alsobackground.
Maisonrouge used an antique piece of silverware for its lid.goldsmith's work: on the reverse, below the socket, the oldParis hallmarks for the period 1697-1704 (probably1702-1703) and an unidentified master stamp. If the silveris reused, the decoration - perfectly characteristic of thecharacteristic of the 1730s - is by Maisonrouge, who applied his hallmarkstamped on the inner frame. The small repair under the lidlid may be contemporary with this recycling operation.recycling operation.
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The goldsmith's hallmark
- Fleur de lys couronnée, deux grains, E H M, a fleur de lys forEtienne-Hème Maisonrouge, one of six masters received in 1722. He lived on the Pont au Change, parish of St. Barthélémy. He had already died when his wife died in February 1746 [Nocq III p.179]
Insculpted on the reverse of the two grips, on the rim of the bowl and on the inner frame of the lid

Mark hallmarks on the bowl
- Charge hallmark for goldsmith's work (An A on the crowned side), Paris 1726-1732 [BP n°354];
- Poinçon de jurande (Crowned letter M), used in Paris from August 12, 1728 to August 26, 1729 [BP n°364].

Mark hallmarks on the lid
- Charge mark for rough work (A floriated A with a scepter and a hand of Justice), Paris 1697-1704 [BP n°272];
- Jury hallmark (crowned letter I), used in Paris from August 17, 1702 to August 28, 1703 [BP n°287];
- Poinçon de décharge des ouvrages moyens (Un caducée), Paris 1722-1726 [BP n°344], on the frame;
- Countermark for all works (A crowned bell), Paris 1726-1732 [BP n°360], on the frame.
Later control marks (boar).
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Etienne-Hème Maisonrouge is the author of some remarkable pieces, such as the pair of egg cups preserved in the Louvre (OA 9636) or this incredible water pot, sold at Drouot in October 2022 for 140,000 euros and now in the Louvre (Michel Lacoste collection).
For a lid identical in every way to ours, see Antoine Plot's écuelle, dated 1735-1738 (Metropolitan Museum). The same profile of a woman in the antique style can be found on the lid of a bowl by Louis Cordier, dated 1727-1728, preserved at the Getty Museum).
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Bibliography
- BP] Michèle Bimbenet-Privat and Gabriel de Fontaines, La datation de l'orfèvrerie parisienne sous l'Ancien Régime, Paris-Musées 1995
- Nocq III] Henry Nocq,Le poinçon de Paris, tome III, Léonce Laget, Paris 1968