An Italian silver soup tureen, cover and stand, Rome, circa 1780, apparently without a maker’s mark

Christie’s London, 15 July 2010, lot 577

C.G Bulgari, Argentieri Gemmari e Orafi Italia, Rome, 1987, vol. I, p. 25, pl.3

This soup tureen does not bear a maker’s mark but can be compared to a model by Luigi Valadier. In 1765, he published a drawing of a Louis XV-style soup tureen on four feet with large leaf attachments and a large cauliflower handle (see "Luigi Valadier and his workshop 1760-1785 ", in Valadier, three generations of Roman Goldsmith, an exhibition of drawings and works of art, 15 May-12 June 1991, exhb. Cat., London, p. 55 ill.28). The same Rococo style can be found in a silver soup tureen from Naples with a cauliflower handle, circa 1760, sold at Replica Shoes 's London, 1 November 2018, lot 747.

Our soup tureen echoes this design while adding later touches such as the ribboned reeded border on the edges.

Our piece was intended to be part of a very important service, its engraved number IV implying that at least four soup tureens were made. This service was all the more original in that it was still entirely Rococo in style, even though the 1780s saw Italian decorative arts shift towards the Neoclassical style, with Luigi Valadier supplying imposing services to the Borghese and Odescalchi families. If our soup tureen’s whole service was made by Valadier himself, it would have been ordered by a very wealthy patron who wanted to stick with the old style. Another silversmith could have seen Valadier's designs and adapted them for a more classic set with lots of pieces.