A Portuguese silver bowl and cover, maker's mark MF (Almeida no. L-415) conjoined, Lisbon, late 17th century

the circular bowl on spreading foot boldly embossed and chased with masks, flowers and scrolling foliage, stepped domed cover similarly decorated and incorporating fruit, bud finial

Dom Fernando II, KIng of Portugal (1816-1885)
Then by descent to a European princely family

A few dents to rim of cover; this means that the cover doesn't fit perfectly on body - general condition is good, marks are good. For further queries please contact the Silver Department directly on +44(0)207 293 5531
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The bowl and cover is engraved with the cypher of Dom Fernando and was photographed in his study after his death in 1885 (see fig. 1). No other Portuguese bowl and cover of this type and date has been identified yet. A jar and cover with similar ornament including the finial is to be offered in the Arts of Europe sale, Sotheby's London, 3 July, lot 144.

 

Introduction for Lots I to V

The following five lots come from the same European princely family. Prior to that, they probably all belonged to Dom Fernando II, King of Portugal (1816-1885), prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, three having his cypher and inventory numbers (lots I, II and III) and a fourth being recorded as his property in the 1882 exhibition in Lisbon (lot IV).

Dom Fernando' s first cousin Albert was consort to Queen Victoria and his uncle Leopold, later first King of the Belgians, married Princess Charlotte, only legitimate child of the Prince Regent.  After his own marriage to the sixteen-year-old year Queen Maria of Portugal in 1836, whose first husband, Prince August, Duke of Leuchtenberg, had died the year before, Fernando was created King of Portugal on the birth of their first son, Pedro in 1837.  Although there was considerable political upheaval during their reign, they were popular monarchs and oversaw many social and modernizing improvements to the country. Queen Maria died during childbirth in 1853 and Dom Fernando assumed the regency during the minority of his son, Pedro V. In 1855, when Pedro reached his majority, Dom Fernando remained in Portugal, living in the Palacio das Necessidades until his death. In 1869, he married an actress, the well-educated Elisa Hensler; she was granted the title of Countess Elda by Ernest II, Duke and head of the house of Saxe-Coburg.

 

The King was 'an accomplished man, skilled in languages and literature.' Adept at etching, pottery and painting aquarelles and porcelain, he was also President of the Royal Academy of Science and Arts in Lisbon, and supported many contemporary artists. In 1838, he commissioned the Prussian mining engineer and architect, Ludwig von Eschwege (1777-1855) to transform the 14^th Century monastery of Da Pena at Sintra into a summer residence, which is now considered to a paramount example of 19^th Century architectural romanticism. The King built a 'curious and wonderful collection,' chiefly at the Palacio das Necessidades, which Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), Union Army General and 18^th President of the United States, described as 'one of the most ... interesting houses in Europe.'¹ The inventory of Dom Fernando's collection in the Palacio lists many bronzes, Oriental and European porcelains and pottery, Limoges enamel and rare, early glass displayed in the 'salho dos vidros.'² In his study (Gabinete do trabalho do Rei), he kept much of his 15^th and 16^th Century silver, essentially Portuguese. Two items now offered for sale (lots I and III) are seen in the photograph of this room, displayed on a magnificent display cabinet.

 

The King's well-known interest in 'prata manuelina'³ was probably stimulated by the royal silver which had been gathered together by Queen Maria, on her return from Brazil to inherit the throne⁴. This included such richly decorated and embossed late Gothic and Renaissance silver-gilt salvers, tazzas and jugs. Since the 18^th Century, the early silver had been traditionally displayed during royal baptisms, 'prata dourada que serve aos baptizados,' to be admired by the crowd (see fig.1). Such displays of silver not only enhanced the aura of the royal family but also reminded the country, then in the grip of a growing sense of nationalism, of the superb achievements of Portuguese goldsmiths of the past.

 

The King was active in other ways in protecting the country's heritage, especially after the dissolution of the convents in 1834⁵. Most notably he saved the monasteries of Jeronimos and of Saõ Vicente de Fora in Lisbon; he converted the refectory of the latter into a magnificent Pantheon to the House of Braganza. With the closure of the smaller convents, these two monasteries became warehouses as ownership of their silver treasures was transferred to the Portuguese State. The King arranged for many of these treasures to be acquired by the royal house and some were probably absorbed into his own collection.  

 

The royal Portuguese silver and Dom Fernando's collection were quite separate; they were displayed in different rooms in the palace and were on different inventories.  Clearly Dom Fernando felt that some of his property should be indelibly distinguished with his cypher.  It is not known when this happened, why some of his property has neither cypher nor numbers or what the numbers engraved on the pieces with his cypher refer; they certainly do not match the main inventory of Dom Fernando's collection which was made after his death in 1885 and possibly tally with an inventory already in place when he acquired the pieces. Dom Fernando's will was published in 1885 and in it he apparently left all his possessions to his second wife the countess d'Elda. This created a great scandal, partly because Dom Fernando's property had always been considered part of the nation's heritage. In the event, the Countess came to an agreement with King Luis I whereby the palace de Pena and most of Dom Fernando's collection remained in royal hands. 26 of the 58 early silver pieces from the 1991 Portuguese Royal Treasures exhibition belonged to him, see: exhibition catalogue, Tesouros Reais, Palácio da Ajuda (Lisbon, 1991, pp. 196-247).

 

 

 

John Russel Young, Around the World with General Grant, 1879, p. 539. Arquivo Distrital de Lisboa, Inventário orfanológico de D. Fernando II , 1886, PT/ADLSB/JUD/TCLSB/B-X/001/00001-1.  This is the generic term used in Portuguese to refer to the Renaissance Portuguese silver as a reference to King Manuel I (1469-1521), the first and most influent king of that period. During the period of turmoil (1808-1837), The Royal Portuguese silver became scattered between Portugal, Brazil and London, see Maria Do Rosario Jardim e Ines Libano Monteiro, "A prata aparato da coroa portuguesa (a partir da 2a metade do seculo XVIII). Identifição de um conjunto de 23 obras dos seculos XVI a XVIII", Revista de Artes Decorativas, 2010, pp. 12-39. During that period, the constitutional monarchy was marked by a series of legislation proposed by the government of the day. In 1834, Joaquim António de Aguiar terminated the State sanction of religious orders, and nationalized their lands and possessions. Later referred to as Mata-Fradas (Killer of Brothers), Aguiar's government took control of the convents and churches that had been sustained by donations of the religious faithful and placed them for sale. Unfortunately, although they hoped to place land and goods in the hands of the more disadvantaged, most of the poor did not have the capital to purchase. In fact, total sales were ten times less than expected, and most holdings were purchased by speculators or existing landowners.