Tureen by Thomas Germain
A French Rococo tureen with vegetables, crayfish and boars’ heads cast on its lid.
Thomas Germain (1673–1748) was the king’s silversmith and made table silver for Louis XV and foreign courts, among them Portugal. Much French silver was melted during the Revolution, so what survives is often in foreign collections such as the Metropolitan Museum and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon.
Materials: Silver
Manufacture: The body raised, the naturalistic details cast, chased and soldered on.
The realistic ‘still life’ of vegetables and animals on the lid.
Asymmetrical rocailles and shells on the foot.