Silver chalice standing on a round foot with openwork and ch - Lot 51

Silver chalice standing on a round foot with openwork and chased leaves, topped with gadroons. The shaft is decorated with pearls and an umbilicus chased with angels' heads, garlands and leaves. The plain bowl, screwed onto the shaft, is gilded on the inside. With its round paten, gilded on the inside and engraved with a Chrism. The foot engraved with a Cross and the coat of arms Sable with three branches and Gules with a silver lion under a knight's helmet; under the foot, engraved P E Montoire. For the chalice, Paris 1684-1687, by Thomas Merlin. For the paten, Paris 1684, by Thomas Merlin. dents at the base of the foot and restoration of the cup. H. 23.5 cm Paten D. 14.5 cm Weight 471 g Provenance: Séguin Collection Thomas Merlin, goldsmith to Louis XIV Thomas Merlin (c.1620-1698) was one of the silversmiths chosen by Colbert to implement the King's plan for artistic renewal. Influenced by the work of painter Charles Lebrun (1619-1690), these silversmiths - Claude Ballin, Thomas Merlin, Pierre Germain and Nicolas Delaunay - were brought together at the Galeries du Louvre. In the Inventaire du mobilier de la Couronne, the Journal du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne and the Comptes des bâtiments du Roi, we find orders placed with and deposits paid to Thomas Merlin as early as 1665, in particular for a set of silver stools to furnish the Galerie des Glaces. In 1688, Thomas Merlin was still working at the Galeries du Louvres. This goldsmith's work remains extremely rare, as in December 1689 the King ordered all silver furniture to be melted down to finance the expenses of the League of Augsburg war.