The Baron Per Adolf Tamm Ormolu and Cut-Glass Table Service (lots 299-310) A ROYAL VISIT In 1837 Sweden was trying to enhance their relationship with both England and the Russian empire. Sweden had started their trade relationship with England and was within grasp of signing the agreement when England's and Russia's relationship started to become strained. In the autumn of 1837 King Carl XIV Johan requested a personal meeting with the Russian Tsar through Count Potocki, Russia's minister in Sweden. Tsar Nicolas I informed the King that his son, Crown Prince Alexander II, would come to Sweden instead of him to bridge their relationship. Of course it was of vital importance to impress the young prince with all that Sweden could offer, and especially the modernised Swedish iron works. The Swedish Crown Prince, Oscar, had met the Tsarevich Alexander when he visited Russia in 1811 and was therefor put in charge of entertaining the sarevich as well as showing how advanced Sweden was in their industrial development. The Crown Prince of Sweden asked his advisor and friend Baron Per Adolf Tamm (1774-1856), who owned one of the largest mines, Dannemora, and the Österby Bruk iron works, to host him and his guests for a few nights and give them a tour around the mine. As soon as Baron Tamm was asked to host this royal visit, he ordered a cut-glass and ormolu-bronze service in Paris (together with porcelain and furniture) for the gala dinner to be held on the 20 June 1838. As well as the honoured guests, sarevich Alexander and Crown Prince Oscar, further nobility was invited to attend the dinner, including Prince Liewen, Lord Youriwitsch, Baron Liewen, Barron Sparre, Chamberlin de Tolstoy, Minister Youkowsky and the Russian minister Count Potocki. PIERRE-PHILIPE THOMIRE AND THE SURTOUT-DE-TABLE In the 1830s, Baron P.A. Tamm most probably commissioned one of the finest sculptors and bronziers of the period, Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) to order the ormolu-bronze table service for his royal guests. The main piece of this service is the surtout-de-table, which was a highly fashionable item of table ornamentation in the 19th century. Service à la Russe, the latest adoption of modern dining with each course served separately, allowed space on the dining table for a garniture. The present magnificent example, inset with mirror glass and ornamented with vines (an illusion to the wine served at table), although unsigned, is comparable to surtout-de-tables produced by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (d. 1843) (for example illustrated in Hans Ottomeyer/Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, vol. I, Munich, 1989, p. 387, fig. 16.13). Elements of the pierced gallery of this example, the vine garland, feature in two designs for a frieze by Thomire held at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (ibid. p. 388, fig. 5.16.15). A number of comparable examples by Thomire exist, in particular the renowned model dated 1810-13 formerly in the collection of Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese, the sister of Napoleon, and wife of the Italian prince, Borghese, at her hôtel in the rue Du Faubourg St. Honor, Paris, and later acquired by the Duke of Wellington, when ambassador to France. The latter is still largely intact and in use at the British Embassy in Paris today (Sir Pierson Dixon, K.C.M.G., 'French Empire clocks in the British Embassy at Paris', The Connoisseur, January 1964, Vol. 158, No. 635, p. 3). There are also a number of surtout-de -tables by Thomire known to be in Sweden, for example the order by Gustaf Lwenhielm for Karl XIV in 1822-1824 for his Rosendals Slott and another exhibited in Skanskt Slott in October 1991-March 1992 from a private collection. At the same exhibition, Förgyllda Bronser under Empiren in the Nationalmuseum, a third surtout-de-table from a private Swedish collection is shown.

A CHARLES X ORMOLU SURTOUT-DE-TABLE

ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE, PARIS, CIRCA 1830

Details

A CHARLES X ORMOLU SURTOUT-DE-TABLE
ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE, PARIS, CIRCA 1830
Oval, in three sections, with pierced grape-vine border surrounding a mirrored bottom, raised on paw-feet, each section with a wooden transport case
77½ in. (197 cm.) wide x 27 in. (69 cm.) deep

Provenance

Ordered by Baron Per Tamm in Paris in the 1830s;
Thence by descent.

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Lot Essay

The design of a comparable surtout with a grape-vine border can be found on a lithograph, the design attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, illustrated in H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, p. 388 and plate 5.16.15. The produced surtout from circa 1830, confirming to the mentioned lithography, can be found in Schloss Rosenborg, Copenhagen in Denmark.
Surtouts of similar oval shape and in three sections are depicted in Ottomeyer & Pröschel, nos 5.16.2 and 5.16.13. Further examples of sold surtout-de-tables were sold in these salerooms on 7 June 2011, lot 334 (GBP62,500) and 15 March 2012, lot 4 (GBP91,250).

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