Ellis Finch
Head of Knightsbridge Silver Department
Lot 84
A set of four Victorian silver-gilt figural salts by Jean-Valentin Morel, London 1850, the bases engraved 'Morel & Cie à Londres' (4)
25 October 2017, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £17,500 inc. premium
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A set of four Victorian silver-gilt figural salts
by Jean-Valentin Morel, London 1850, the bases engraved 'Morel & Cie à Londres'
Modelled as four children in 18th century dress holding baskets to sell their wares, on grass-effect bases with wood inserts, with a fitted wood box, height of the tallest 18cm, weight total 56oz. (4)
Modelled as four children in 18th century dress holding baskets to sell their wares, on grass-effect bases with wood inserts, with a fitted wood box, height of the tallest 18cm, weight total 56oz. (4)
Footnotes
Jean-Valentin Morel (1794-1860) was the son of a Parisian lapidary, and studied in the workshop of the gold box maker Adrien Vachette. He began business on his own account around 1830, later settling in Rue Neuve St Augustin in partnership with the French architect Henri Duponchel. After a lawsuit and the dissolution of the partnership, Morel was barred from working in the Department of the Seine, and moved his business to London. He registered his mark in 1849, and continued to produce the highest quality silver and jewellery. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, he was awarded a Council Medal.
Despite the success, Morel struggled financially and returned to France in 1852, winning the Grand Medaille for goldwork and jewellery at the Paris International Exhibition of 1855.
Morel exhibited a set of these four salts and those of the following lot at the Great Exhibition, where they were described in The Official Catalogue as 'Saltcellars representing figures on donkeys with baskets, embossed and chased; and figures holding baskets, modelled and chased.' One contemporary commentator in The Crystal Palace and its Contents illustrated the salts and selected them for special praise: 'The silver salt cellars, by Morel, are very beautiful little affairs, in the Louis Quatorze style. They represent rustic children, quite of the Watteau order, bearing baskets and dancing lightly under their burthens.'
This design of salt has been noted with hallmarks ranging from 1855-65 with makers' marks for John Samuel Hunt, Barnards, Garrard and C. & G. Fox. When Morel left London under financial difficulties in 1852 it seems likely that he sold his designs to raise funds.
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