Pair of Sauce Boats

1746/47

Cast in the form of large nautilus shells, these splendid sauce boats are decorated with tiny specimens of marine life. Polished sea creatures are encrusted in the pebbled surface, like fossils revealed by an archaeologist’s brush. Miniature serpents raise their heads as they slither across the handles, a detail both ornamental and practical—they provide a useful place for the pourer to rest a thumb.

Medium	silver
Dimensions	[1] 6 3/16 x 8 1/2 x 4 in. (15.7 x 21.6 x 10.2 cm); troy weight: 21.7 toz (674.9 g) [2] 6 1/16 x 8 1/2 x 3 13/16 in. (15.4 x 21.6 x 9.7 cm); troy weight: 21.4 toz (665.6 g)
Object Number	1986.21
Acquisition	Acquired by the Clark, 1986
Status	On View

Image Caption

Paul Crespin, Pair of Sauce Boats, 1746/47, silver. Clark Art Institute, Acquired by the Clark, 1986.21

Select Bibliography

Lovett, Jennifer Gordon. A Glimpse of Rococo France: The Amorous Proposal by François Le Moyne. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1987. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Annual Report, 1986. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1986. Inglis, Brand. "Silver Still Solid in a Shaky Market." Journal of Art 4 (February 1991). Wees, Beth Carver. "English Silver in an American Museum: The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute." Silver Society Journal 4 (Autumn 1993):115–23. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Wees, Beth Carver. English, Irish, and Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1997. Wees, Beth Carver. "Silver in the Clark Art Institute." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 536–45. James, Jolyon Warwick. "English, Irish and Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, by Beth Carver Wees." Carter's Homes Antiques & Collectables (Summer 1998/99): 2830. Wees, Beth Carver. "Huguenot Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute." Huguenot Heritage Issue 5 (Winter 1999): 13.

Provenance

Private collection, South Africa;¹ with Brand Inglis, Ltd., London; sold to Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, June 1986. 1. Information provided by Brand Inglis.