A fine ewer and basin in Portuguese silver from the first half of the 18th century, in a design of the master silversmith Luis Goncalves circa 1551. The ewer has smooth body in baluster form, slender at the top and developing the pear-shape below. It has a large mouth finished with an elegant spout, and the handle is in rocaille style, in the shape of an inverted ‘s’ ending in a double scroll. The basin is circular with a raised border, and the base confines the ewer in an elevated central moulding.
Made by the great master silversmith Manuel Roque Ferrão,in Lisbon, it bears his maker’s mark, with noteable and unusual proportions and the elegant simplicity of the older models. This Italo-Germanic style of ewer and basin was in great demand from the 16th to the 18th century as much in Portugal as in Spain. They were known in Spain as ‘Flamenga’ or Flemish, although they were made in Portugal from the middle of the 16thcentury in the reign of D. João lll to reign of D. José in the middle of the 18th century.

Certificate of Authenticity from Sofia Ruival and Henrique Braga.