Exceptional covered agate bowl mounted in enameled gold with - Lot 35

Exceptional covered agate bowl mounted in enameled gold with an iris-shaped socket Paris, circa 1640-1650 H. 18.1 cm; diam. 7.6 cm Provenance Laurent Danet (circa 1650-1720), Paris; Ducal family, Germany; Galerie J. Kugel, Paris. Exhibition 2022. Villa Albertine, New-York, Tastemakers: The 18th Century French Luxury Market and the Global Art Trade. Bibliography Stéphane Castelluccio, le prince et le marchand, Paris, 2014, pp. 436-437. Comparative bibliography Michèle Bimbenet-Privat, "Nouvelle découverte d'une œuvre de François Roberday : le coffret en pierres dures de Louis XIV", in Versalia, 2005, n° 8. Condition: good This precious cup belongs to a corpus of hardstone pieces whose enameled gold mounts were probably made by the same Parisian silversmith. In addition to the enamelled pea pod and three-lobed leaf motifs typical of Parisian production in the 1640s and 1650s, it features an intaglio under the foot, here depicting Cupid sacrificing to Love. These features are also found on several pieces in the Musée du Louvre from Louis XIV's collections, including cups from Cardinal Mazarin (MR 223 and 224; cf. Alcouffe, nos. 196 and 198) and a ewer (MR 231; cf. Alcouffe, no. 194). The intaglios in this group are characterized by slender figures and the recurrent presence of dappled clouds or leafy twigs. They are attributed to the Parisian lapidary Pierre Homas, who died in 1640 (cf. Bimbenet-Privat, pp. 24-25). Similar intaglios are found in works by the famous silversmiths Jean Vangrol (†1640) and François I Roberday (1590-1651), the latter having married Homas' widow in 1641. Our bowl appears in the 1720 inventory of merchant Laurent Danet: "an urn of oriental agate garnished with enamelled gold with a flower on the lid", valued at 700 livres (Archives nationales, Minutier centrale, XXIV-601, September 13, 1720, f° 21). Between 1684 and 1687, Danet delivered fifty-six hardstone pieces to the King (cf. Castelluccio, p. 443). Originally from Rouen, he established himself in Paris as a marchand-mercier, a profession he practiced for some forty years. His clientele included, in addition to Louis XIV, the Grand Dauphin, the Princesse de Conti, the Duc de Créqui, as well as foreign princes, including Elector Max Emmanuel of Bavaria. However, our bowl has not yet been identified in the inventories of major 17th-century collectors.