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A superb Classical style silver statuette of the Nereid Amphitrite by François-Désiré Froment-Meurice stamped with the maker’s mark
Paris, date circa 1850
Fully Hallmarked. Height 57 cm.
The leading jeweller and silversmith and favourite of the French aristocracy, François-Désiré Froment-Meurice (1802-55) specialized in producing silver in the revivalist traditions, from Gothic and Mannerist to Baroque, Rococo and Classical styles. His influence and importance was far reaching and has recently gained renewed acclaim after the exhibition of his work and that of his son and successor Emile (1837-1913), Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris, 2003. Froment-Meurice employed many different skilled workers, as summarised by Theophilus Gautier who comparing his friend to the conductor of an orchestra noted that he ‘inspired and led a whole world of sculptors, draughtsmen, decorators, engravers, enamellers and jewellers...’ By 1869 his Parisian firm employed 80 workmen but nearer 200 including subcontractors. Froment-Meurice belonged to a remarkable artistic and literary circle frequented by the painter Ary Scheffer and the poet Victor Hugo who compared the silversmith to Benvenuto Cellini and Michelangelo.
Like other Parisian silversmiths of his era, such as Boin-Taburet and Odiot, Froment-Meurice’s style can be described as eclectic, as evident when comparing a large Renaissance style vase, shown at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle with his ‘Feuchères Vase’ (Musée du Louvre, Paris) made in the Neo-classical spirit and his Coupe des Vendanges (one of three versions in the Musée du Second Empire, Compiègne), inspired by Dutch Seventeenth century silver. Both were exhibited at the Exposition Universelle, 1844. The Feuchères Vase, designed by Alexandre Schoenewerk, made from silver and malachite was commissioned by the City of Paris, 1843 for general Baron de Feuchères in gratitude for donating to a number of Paris civic hospices. The Coupe des Vendanges illustrating the effects of Bacchus on human reason was designed by Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume and made from agate, pure, gilded and enamelled silver and pearls.
Other important commissions included a pair of agate and cornelian cups for the Russian aesthete, Prince Soltikoff as well as the elaborate toilet chest and set commissioned in 1845 for the marriage of Louise-Thérèse de Bourbon, grand-daughter of Charles X, with the duc de Parma. Froment-Meurice was also responsible for a quantity of liturgical plate. Soon after the installation of Napoleon III as Emperor, Froment-Meurice was asked to create a majestic reliquary, known as ‘Le Talisman de Charlemagne’. He was also commissioned by the clergy of the Madeleine who helped keep the firm afloat after the 1848 Revolution and before this had enjoyed the patronage of Louis Philippe, Queen Marie Amelie and later their son, the duc de Montpensier.
According to mythology the Nereid or sea-nymph Amphitrite was the daughter of Nereus, wife of Neptune, the god who ruled the sea and was the mother of Triton. Before they married, Amphitrite tried to escape from Neptune but he sent dolphins after her, which succeeded in persuading her to return to become his bride. She has been represented in art since Antiquity, for instance sitting next to Neptune in Olympian assemblies on a cup dating from 510 B.C. (Charlottenberg Berlin), during the seventeenth century by Poussin, (Philadelphia Museum of Art) and during the eighteenth by Tiepolo (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden). Amphitrite is occasionally shown with a lobster but more usually either riding or accompanied by a dolphin or cockle-shell, with arched drapery over her head, which here is slung backward. The subject is treated with grace and style, with the goddess’ smooth skin contrasting so effectively with the dolphin’s scales and the scaly base.
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