This shiny dome-covered soup tureen, “the most significant piece of Canadian silver ever to come to auction,” was created in Lower Canada (a.k.a. Quebec) in the late 18th century.
"The most significant piece of Canadian silver ever to come to auction" is a shiny dome-covered soup tureen created in Lower Canada (a.k.a. Quebec) in the late 18th century.
The superlative comes courtesy of Bill Kime, the veteran silver, ceramics and glass specialist with Waddington's auctioneers, who's set to receive bids on the dish Monday evening at a live sale in Toronto.
What makes the tureen so special as to carry a preauction estimate of $25,000 to $30,000? Well, it's by Laurent Amiot (1764-1839), a Paris-trained silversmith regarded as one of Canada's finest decorative artists. Its deft deployment of Louis XVI and Chippendale motifs is a rare extant example of Amiot's domestic (as opposed to ecclesiastical) practice. Only the Royal Ontario Museum has a comparable Amiot tureen – identical, in fact, except that its twin handles are wood rather than silver.
Further, this tureen, consigned by an Ontario private collector, was commissioned by the prominent Hertel de Rouville family of Quebec City, whose armorial (crest) and motto are engraved on one side. Expectations are high the dish's rarity and quality should push bidding well past the estimate.