Gadrooned Silver Salvers
Gadrooned silver salvers, generally of wide concave segments,appear in the late 16th or early 17th century and remain fashionableuntil the first decades of the 18th century, beyond the reignof King D. Pedro II (1683–1706) and into that of His son D. João V(1706–1750), surviving as a reminiscence of ancient Roman models.Their aesthetic appeal, resorting to the adoption of smooth,plain surfaces rhythmically defined by the symmetry of repetition,reflects options defined by a contemporary artistic current thatargued for the simplicity of shape in detriment of profuse andexuberant Baroque decoration.The plain beauty of these salvers is uniquely based on theirshape – robust, sober and smooth, and in the interaction betweenthese aesthetics and the diffused light reflections of their concavesegments, giving these pieces an unusual artistic quality that wouldbe hidden by unnecessary or superfluous ornamentation.This same matrix was adopted in the production of othertypologies such as bowls, wine tasters and water basins, equallymanufactured without any added unnecessary decorative elements,valuing uniquely the beauty of their sobriety and the diffuse reflectionof their silvery sheen, the characteristics that provide themwith their truly uniqueness.
B200
Portuguese silver salver featuring a plain central medallion framedby peripheral reeded frame, and scalloped edge defined by twenty-six concave and grooved centripetal gadroons.Of a typology characteristic of the salvers produced betweenthe late 17th and the early 18th century, the hallmarks to its undersidedo confirm that chronology. The silver assay-mark (P10.0),datable to within the above-mentioned time frame, is attributableto Manuel do Couto de Azevedo (1656–1721) , who was sworn in asOporto silver assayer in 1694 and granted the Habit of the MilitaryOrder of Christ, by King Pedro, II in 1698.Corresponding to an unidentified Oporto goldsmith, thestamped mark AV/R (P183.0a) has been recorded on other objects,namely on a group of twelve salvers that includes two tall footedexamples.The raw material plasticity was wisely treated, with the purposeof highlighting the object’s shape, thus revealing the typicalfrugality of Portuguese silversmithing dating from the late 1600s,and from the earlier part of the following century.