Bidspirit auction | Pair Royal Christofle Double Salt

Pair Royal Christofle Double Salt Cellars - Christofle, France. Pair of silver plate double salt cellars with three extra bowls, circa 1844-1872. Each featuring a youth atop the base seated between the two cellars. Each stand stamped with a ”Christofle” hallmark in a rectangular cartouche, numbered ”15” in square cartouches, and the Christofle scale silversmith's hallmark along the underside. Each further numbered; one numbered 783385 and one numbered 783386 along the underside of a foot. Exhibited: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota, 1966-1968. Provenance: Commissioned by Prince Mustafa Fazil Pasha for the occasion of his daughter, Princess Nazli Zainab Hanim Fazil’s marriage to Ali Khalil Pasha. Family stories hold that the Princess Nazli sent this set of Christofle through the desert by camel to be used for a peace treaty dinner between the Ottomans and the Russians (likely the Treaty of San Stefano, 1878); Thence by descent. (Each) Height: 5 1/4 in x width: 6 1/2 in x depth: 3 1/2 in. Gross weight: 1,312.9 g. Condition: To one of the salt cellars, the boy figurine is slighly loose and is able to rotate slightly; the figurine is not facing foward like the others. No major dents. Minute areas of wear to the silver, particularly along high points. Scattered areas of tarnishing, particularly along recessed areas. Some polishing accretions, particularly below the rims of the salt cellar bowls. Light scratches. The extra bowls have lost their gilt interiors.