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Lot Essay
François Simons was born in The Hague in 1750. He became a master in 1776 and was govenor of the silversmith guild several times between 1790 and 1798. Simons was one of the most productive silversmiths of his time. The number of works bearing his maker's mark is so large that they can only have been made in a workshop employing several silversmiths. He died in 18281.
His best known work is the extensive table service made in 1803-1804 for I.J.A. Gogel, minister of finance under King Louis Napoleon and later financial adviser to King William I. This service, consisting of a basket, a pair of chestnut vases, a pair of casters, six candlesticks, two candelabra, two circular salvers, an oil and vinegar set, two cruets, four salt cellars and two boxes, is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam2.
In the centre of the bottom-plate of the present basket is engraved with the family arms of the British family By. This engraving was probably added in the second half of the 19th Century, in that period the By family lived at the Shernfold Park estate in the county Sussex.
Comparative literature:
1Exh.Cat., Nederlands Zilver/Dutch Silver 1580-1830, Amsterdam - Rijksmuseum, Toledo - The Toledo Museum of Art, Boston - Museum of Fine Arts, 1979/1980, pp.324-327
2Verbeek, J., Nederlands Zilver 1780-1830, Lochem, 1984, pp.91-94
See illustrations
His best known work is the extensive table service made in 1803-1804 for I.J.A. Gogel, minister of finance under King Louis Napoleon and later financial adviser to King William I. This service, consisting of a basket, a pair of chestnut vases, a pair of casters, six candlesticks, two candelabra, two circular salvers, an oil and vinegar set, two cruets, four salt cellars and two boxes, is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
In the centre of the bottom-plate of the present basket is engraved with the family arms of the British family By. This engraving was probably added in the second half of the 19th Century, in that period the By family lived at the Shernfold Park estate in the county Sussex.
Comparative literature:
See illustrations