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Castor
France (Dunkirk)
about 1741
Object Place: Europe, Dunkerque, France
Medium/Technique
Metal; silver
Dimensions
14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. Collection
Accession Number1993.372.2a-b
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver
DescriptionOne of a pair of vase shaped castors on a spreading circular foot with a gadrooned band. The base of the body is applied with strapwork on a spirally mattedground. The upper part of the body is engraved with lambrequins beneath a mol ded rim. The cover has a gadrooned rim and is pierced in a latticework patternwith engraved rosettes at the intersections of the piercing the reserves. The finial is bud shaped above an applied gadrooned(?) cap.
Marks
Maker's Mark: a crowned PE, a device (Helft, 469)(Messiant, . Maison Commune: a crowned I, c.1741 (Helft, 46() Other: probalby the town mark for Dunkerque c. 1730-1760, a crowned dolphin, but it is illegible (Helft, 469). All marks are on the interior of the cover and the body.
An English crest (griffon) has been engraved on the front of the lobed body. An earlier crest has been erased.
An English crest (griffon) has been engraved on the front of the lobed body. An earlier crest has been erased.
ProvenanceOctober 14-21, 1952, sale, Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, lot 996. May 8, 1954, sold by Au Vieux Paris (gallery), Paris, to Elizabeth Parke Firestone (b. 1897- d. 1990) and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. (b. 1898 - d. 1973), Akron, OH and Newport, RI; 1993, gift of the estate of Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 26, 1993)