- Paris, c. 1745–5
- Silver
- Inv. 2381
Dish cover
This dish cover, called at the time a cloche à la matelote, was designed to preserve food, the type usually being alluded to by the decoration on the top: in this case a still life of fish, shellfish and fishing symbols on a bed of seaweed. A sculptural composition, remarkable not only for its originality but also for its daring and magnificent architectural sense, as well as the perfection of the workmanship, attesting to the consummate skill of its author.
This work incorporated the so-called ‘Penthièvre-Orléans’ service, at the base of which appears the coat of arms of the Orléans family. This was ordered to be installed by the future King of the French, Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orléans and son of Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, known as ‘Phillipe-Égalité’, and Adélaide de Bourbon, the daughter of the Duke of Penthièvre and the great-granddaughter of Louis XIV, from whom Louis Philippe inherited this piece in 1821.
Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre; Louise-Marie-Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duke of Orléans; Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans; Duke of Vendôme; Comtesse de Béhague. Acquired by Calouste Gulbenkian from Kleinberger, Paris, 17 July 1950.
H. 28 cm; W. 58 cm; D. 45 cm; 9.35 kg
Verlet 1969
Pierre Verlet, Objets d’art français de la Collection Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbonne, 1969, s.p., no. 12.
Ferreira 1970
Maria Teresa Gomes Ferreira, 'L’Argenterie Gulbenkian', Connaissance des Arts, December 1970, pp. 106–16.
Versailles 1993
Versailles et les tables royales en Europe, exhibition catalogue. Versailles: Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, 1993, cat. 68.
Boiron 1996
Stéphane Boiron, 'The origins of the Penthièvre-Orléans Service', Royal French Silver. The Property of George Ortiz, Sotheby’s, New York, 13 November 1996, pp. 38–52.
Lisbon 1998
A Arte e o Mar, exhibition catalogue. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, 1998, p. 211, no. 205.
New York 1999
Katharine Baetjer and James David Draper (eds.), «Only the Best». Masterpieces of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, exhibition catalogue. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, p. 114–15, cat. 53.
Versailles 2000
Chefs-d’oeuvre du musée Gulbenkian de Lisbonne. Meubles et objets royaux du XVIIIe siècle français, exhibition catalogue. Versailles: Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, 2000, pp. 76–7, no. 20.
Lisbon 2001
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, 2001, p. 127, cat. 101.