PXL_20240329_231200877

Fountain
French (Paris), 1661-63,
with English alterations of about 1698 and 1758-62

Silver

A Parisian silversmith made the body of this large vessel in the early 1660s. The richly modeled acanthus leaves around the shoulder and the naturalistically rendered lion mask at the back are typical of Baroque ornamentation of the time.

Water vessels called fountains were used in dining rooms to rinse glasses and utensils during a meal.
Often made of precious metal, they were also visual expressions of their owners' prestige.

Very little French silver from that period exists today because so much was melted down at the order of King Louis XIV to pay off substantial war debts. This piece survived because it was in England at the end of the seventeenth century, when it was altered into its present form as a container for water with a tap at the front.