Ewer and basin, 1727 or 1730 (rock crystal & gold)

This rare piece is made of precious rock crystal with solid gold mounts of a young triton wrestling with a snake-like sea monster on the handle and a small barking dog as a generous thumb piece on the cover (you have to put your thumb in the dog’s mouth to get the leverage to open the cover). Three examples are known (only two survive with their basins) and between them they were owned by Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, the duchesse de Mazarin and Queen Marie-Antoinette in the eighteenth century. Madame de Pompadour’s was sold on 13 December 1764 and later may have entered the collection of Louis XV’s subsequent mistress, Madame du Barry. Height: 18.9 cm, ewer Object size: 5.3 x 23 x 19.9 cm, basin