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EPERGNE FROM A SEVEN-PIECE TABLE GARNITURE

Creator(s): V. Mayer's Söhne (Silversmith)

Currently in storage


About this object

The seven-piece table garniture, of which this is the centerpiece, features Dionysian iconography. In the middle of the centerpiece Dionysus holds his thyrsus staff and pours wine into a putto's drinking cup. Two maenads who ride on lions and hold drinking vessels flank the god of wine. Created as an exhibition piece for the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873, the garniture gives full expression to the eclecticism so characteristic of the applied arts of that era. Valentin Teirich, a professor of ornament and ornamental drawing at the Vienna Applied Arts School (Kunstgewerbeschule) and the author of numerous publications on the decorative arts, designed this elaborate garniture. The firm of Vinzenz Mayer's Sons, which in 1872 had been proclaimed "imperial and court jewelers," executed the ensemble. To demonstrate its high standards and the exceptional accomplishments that could be expected from these purveyors to the emperor and the court, the firm displayed this ambitious centerpiece at the 1873 exhibition.

This seven-piece table garniture features Dionysian iconography. In the middle of the centerpiece Dionysus holds his thyrsus staff and pours wine into a putto's drinking cup. The god of wine is flanked by two maenads who ride on lions and sport drinking vessels. The large central étagère consists of glass dish supported by two scrolls and surmounted by a conical vase. Similar dishes at each end are supported by a foliate scroll base. The whole ensemble is mounted on a black onyx base decorated with cast and applied ribbons and holy festoons in gilt silver.

Object name:
EPERGNE FROM A SEVEN-PIECE TABLE GARNITURE
Made from:
Silver gilt -- onyx -- glass
Made in:
Vienna, Austria
Date made:
1873
Size:
111.8 x 81.3 x 45.7 cm (44 x 32 x 18 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
12.290.1-8
Class:
SILVER
Signature marks:
MARK Letter A in square with cut-off corners, assay mark for Vienna, 1866-1922; head of Diana in five-lobed flower shape, with3 to left and A to right, silver standard of .750 persent fineness, used in Vienna, 1872-1937; head of greyhound in hexagon, with 3 to left and A to right, silver standard of .800 percent fineness, used in Vienna, 1866-1922; V M S in rectangle, maker's mark for firm of Mayer's V. Söhne, Vienna, 1870-81; V C in rectangle with cut-off corners, mark of Vincenz Czokally, silversmith in Vienna (active 1866-99)
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973