Gorgeous 18th Century Silver Sugar Bowl By Micalef~Sold~

Gorgeous 18th Century Louis XVI French Silver Sugar Bowl By Alexis Micalef.

18th Century Silver pieces are always a treat…Imagine this little guy was created during the Louis XV era, 5 years before the death of the King and survived both the Reign of Louis XVI and the French Revolution….It is quite incredible.
Louis XVI would go on to become King of France 5 years after the creation of this little piece!

The silver framework, which holds the cobalt blue crystal, is cut away to reveal the darker color of the crystal, enhancing the whole effect and outlining the beautiful carvings.
On each side of the bowl two cherubs surround a medallion topped by a flowing ribbon.
The sides registers are decorated with garlands of delicately carved fruits and flowers held up by knotted ribbons.
The vessels rests on 4 feet in the shape of Lion’s paws.
The lid is decorated is slightly curved and decorated with a gadroon and pearl design and is topped by a strawberry bunch which forms what we call the ‘Frétel’ (or Finial).
The size of the bowl makes it ideal to either be used as a sugar bowl or serve as a condiment bowl, or even to showcase flowers or for the extra special treat of ‘Caviar’.
The cobalt crystal interior is original to the piece and is in superb condition. No chips or dents.

We are in the Fermiers Généraux Marks time….
Photo #7: Upper part:
A Crowned A in a slanted script.
It is the ‘Poinçon de la Marque’ for Fermier Général Julien Alaterre starting October 1st 1768.
Photo #7: Lower part
The Year Hallmark or Poinçon de Jurande is a Crowned E used by Fermier Général (Tax collector in essence) Julien Alaterre in Paris starting July 13th 1768, until July 11th 1769.
Hence we can pintpoint the year of the creation of the lovely sugar bowl to Between October 1768 and July 11 1769.

Photo # 8:
We have the AM Mark with a crowned fleur de Lys, and a Croix de Malte, registered by Alexis Micalef on December 15th 1756 in Paris. The Silversmith left Paris for Lyon in 1772, hence at that time changed his registration.

H: 4.72"W: 3.74/L7.48"D: 2.55"Reference number: SH-287