Louis XVI Coffee Pot , Bruges 1780-90, Gaspard Hanicq, Sterling Silver

Large and sumptuous Louis XVI coffee pot  in sterling silver. It bears the prestigious hallmark  of the famous Bruges master goldsmith Gaspard Hanicq who achieved mastery after 16 long years as an apprentice and companion in the workshop of his father-in-law Pieter Dethieu. Very quickly, his great talent for repoussage and fine ciselure brought him a large clientele. The Sisters of Saint-Jean Hospital commissioned countless works from him, all of which have been preserved to this day. They all bear witness to his extraordinary talent for fine ciselure  and the repoussage of faces, animals and plants in  silver. The coffeepot is a typical example of the large coffee and chocolate  pots from Bruges called "au sauvage" by their contemporaries because of the large crowned bearded man's face that serves as a pouring spout. In eighteenth-century iconography he represents the prototype of a native chief of the Americas. The link with the American origin of the exotic drinks served in these goldsmith's pieces is obvious. The coffee maker is richly decorated with plant motifs all embossed and chiseled with great skill. On the bottom of the coffee maker is the hallmark of Gaspard Hanicq, clearly legible, and the trace of two other hallmarks that have been very erased. It weighs a very generous 950 grams.