Important Jean-Valentin Morel Surtout De Table Leads Silver & Vertu And Decorative Arts Auctions At Heritage

Lost for 140+ years, historically important centerpiece just one of nearly 500 artful lots procured nationwide, Dec. 5-6

DALLAS – A re-discovered silvered and gilt bronze Surtout de table, fashioned by famed French silversmith Jean-Valentin Morel, is expected to bring $500,000+ to lead Heritage’s Dec. 5 & 6 Silver & Vertu and Decorative Arts Signature® Auctions. It is just one of nearly 500 lots of refined objects procured nationwide, including a Louis XIV-style ebony cabinet of engraved brass, pewter and tortoiseshell inlay (estimate $150,000+) and an important Lèon Kahn Regence-style kingwood and gilt bronze tall case clock (estimate $80,000+).

Offered Dec. 5, the historically important Surtout de table comes to auction for the first time in nearly 20 years and only the second time since it was crafted in 1851 for the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London. Tim Rigdon, Director of Silver and Decorative Arts at Heritage, painstakingly researched the artifact’s whereabouts and located it on the West Coast, blackened with time but accompanied by four sets of gilt and silvered bronze seven-light candelabra. The important piece of Decorative Arts history is offered in a nine-piece lot. Read more about Rigdon’s expert research on the Surtout de table.

Additional silver lots crossing the block Dec. 5 include a three-piece Henri Picard et Frères silvered bronze figural table garniture, expected to bring $30,000+, a circa 1851-52 monumental Garrard Victorian silver figural centerpiece, depicting a Moorish rider on horse, estimated to sell for $30,000+ and a Vauchez Frères silver gilt, enamel and gem set verge fuse figural desk clock, with two blackamoor figures astride sapphire-encrusted leopards, estimated to bring $20,000+. A seven piece Kurz & Co. silver tea and coffee service and tray, was crafted in Hanau, Germany, circa 1870, is expected to bring $15,000+.

Highlighting the nearly 300 lots of Decorative Arts offered Dec. 6 is the Louis XIV-style tortoiseshell meuble á hauteur d`appui, attributed to Charles-Guillaume Winckelsten (French, circa 1860-1870) after the work of Andrè-Charles Boulle. The finely executed cabinet is decorated with tortoiseshell ground inlaid with pewter and brass and edged with a contrasting inlaid band against pewter. Its central gilt bronze frame is accented with pawed foliate legs centering a female mask resting on a stepped base with inlaid panels on brass. Bearing a similarity to a pair in the collection of the Louvre, the meuble à hauteur d'appui is expected to bring $150,000+.

Additionally, a magnificent North German Empire mahogany temple-form triple roll-top desk, with hidden drawers and compartments and an architectural interior, is expected to break $80,000+. An important François Linke Louis XVI-style center bowl of violette marble with scrolling gilt bronze acanthus and laurel handles is expected to bring $40,000+. A 17^th century German, ebony silver and hard stone mounted case clock, retaining four spiral-twisted ruby glass columns with Corinthian capitals, is expected to bring $30,000+.