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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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An extremely beautiful and large Edwardian Louis XV style Sterling silver centrepiece by Elkington and Co, after a design by its chief designer Auguste-Adolphe Willms, with a central double lipped bowl chased with foliage around a cartouche on either side, both engraved with the Japanese chrysanthemum emblem, fitted with a cut-glass dish, the bowl with gilt interior on a tapering base applied with trailing flowers and flanked by two large reclining classical female figures carousing at a banquet wearing diaphanous drapery, one holding a goblet, the other a bunch of grapes and both with a vine-wrapped vase beside her, the base with three sunken recesses, the two at either end chased with a large anthemion motif, the sides with elaborate floral and Rococo style decoration Birmingham, dated 1906 Fully Hallmarked. Height 33 cm, length 90 cm, weight 10 kilos. Literature: “Elkington and Co. Ltd. Catalogueâ€, circa 1900, page 117, no. 20356, illustrating a design for this work. This magnificent Edwardian centrepiece by the renowned British silversmithing firm of Elkington and Co was designed by its chief artist Auguste-Adolphe Willms (1827-99). One of a number of French designers who worked for the firm during the nineteenth century, Willms had previously been employed in Paris by such makers as Jean-Valentin Morel, Christofle and Froment-Meurice. In 1855 he joined Elkington’s design team; four years later he was heading the studio and remained in that position until his death. Shortly afterwards, his design for this work featured in the Elkington illustrated sales catalogue under the heading “Dessert Service. The Louis Quinze. Sterling Silver. Specially designed by the late Chevalier Willms, Chief Artist to Elkington & Co. Ltd.†As its description noted “the vase containing a handsomely cut-glass receptacle†supported by Bacchants was for flowers while the two outer projections were intended for dessert fruits etc. The same page of the catalogue illustrated a companion set of “richly chased fruit or bon-bon stands, with cut-glass bowlâ€. While the latter were priced at a mere £18.10.0, the centrepiece was priced at £175.0.0, a very large sum, which reflected the work’s importance, especially in the light that Willms only earned up to £400 and a solicitor about £500 per annum. While the style was described as Louis XV, its overall design also reflected the ideals of Art Nouveau, which triumphed at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. The engraved Japanese chrysanthemum emblem on the two cartouches is of particular significance, reflecting the firm’s interest under the direction of Frederick Elkington (1822-1905) in the Far East. The firm was in fact one of the first to produce silver in the Japanese style and from the 1860’s, under the guidance of Willms added a fine range of cloisonné and champlevé enamels to their line. Frederick Elkington had also amassed a large collection of Chinese and Japanese enamels, which were sold at Christie’s after his death. By 1906 the firm of Elkington and Co was run by Frederick’s sons Herbert Frederick and Gerald Bartlett Elkington, who with Hyla Garrett Elkington, William Lee Matthews and Andrew Binnie acted as directors of this important business. With a factory in Birmingham they had by then established two showrooms in Birmingham, three in London and others in Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle and were probably the most frequently represented silver manufacturers to show at local, national and international exhibitions, 1840-1914, where they won many awards. The firm, founded circa 1836 by George Richards Elkington (1801-65), first made its name as the largest British electroplating silver manufacturer but in addition produced a large variety of pure silver pieces, from table silver and domestic hollowware to large presentation pieces in conjunction with bronzes and enamels. http://www.richardreddingantiques.com/collection/silver/an-extremely-beautiful-sterling-silver-centre-piece-by-elkington-co |
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