A silver bread basket

Origin: The Netherlands, The Hague

Maker: Martinus van Stapele

Date: Date letter: P = 1786

Weight: 1289 gram

Dimensions: Height: 11,5 x 36 x 22,5 cm.

Literature: Haagse Voet, No. 130 – gg.

Provenance:  Collection J.E. Leoni

The bread basket is oval with sides consisting of finely sawn Classical columns, joined by garlands of fruit. The medallions with musical and military attributes as well as architectural elements are remarkable. The basket must have been especially commissioned by a client with a particular interest in these subjects. Sheets of silver were highly suitable to be sawn into such patterns, and subsequently to be meticulously engraved. The well-formed rams’ heads, with their mouths holding rings, are striking. These are characteristic features for the silversmith Martinus van Stapele, who led a successful business with his son Reynier van Stapele, named ‘Stapele & Zoon’ (Stapele & Son), specializing in tableware.

The most notable families in The Hague were among their clients, commissioning tableware both for their town houses and country houses, castles and estates.

Identical rams’ heads can be found on the remarkable silver tableware that was made by Van Stapele in 1738 for Jan Bouwens van Horssen and Wilhelmina Aletta Kien, and also on a similar ensemble made in 1788 for the Van Tuyll van Serooskerken family at Oud Zuilen.

Literature:

-Christie’s, Amsterdam, 28/29 november 1991, lots 1546-1548.

-Jet Prijzel-Dommisse, Haags goud en zilver, Edelsmeedkunst uit de Hofstad, Zwolle, 2005, cat. nr. 37.