Description

18th century French provincial silver. An excellent quality antique silver lidded serving dish with elegant plain style and acanthus leaf side handles. The lid has a hand engraved cartouche, with tassles and a bishop’s hat, containing an armorial almost certainly for Bishop Dominique d’Inguimbert.

Weight 618 grams, 19.8 troy ounces.
Height 9.25 cms. Spread across handles 28 cms. Diameter 16.3 cms.
Marked on both pieces with French provincial silver marks for the ancient French town Carpentras.
Maker Pierre Liotard.
Circa 1760.

Literature: Tureens are most practical for serving several people. In eighteenth-century France, a small individual covered standing bowl on a small platter, essentially an individual tureen, was called an écuelle (also anglicised to ecuelle). It could be lifted by its twin handles and drunk from directly. The shape was used for other purposes; it is often found in toilet services, where its purpose is uncertain. Its modern descendant in tableware is the two-handled cream soup bowl on matching plate.