The ewer with stepped oval foot chased with rocaille, rising to a knopped stem, the bellied body fluted and similarly chased, double-capped scroll stem, the shaped oval basin chased to match and with reserves for wine and water cruets, ewer marked on upper rim, basin marked on border
17³⁄₈ in. (44.2 cm.) long, the basin
36 oz. 18 dwt. (1,148 gr.)

Dr. Heller's Lexicon; Sotheby's, London, 4 December 2012, lot 35.

Exh. Cat. Couven-Museum, Aachen, 2003, no. 134.

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Lot Essay

The incorporation of a ewer and basin into a mass altar set is exceedingly rare. Ordinarily, the ewer and basin are made as separate units from the wine and water cruets. A pair of water and oil cruets intended for mass, also marked for Darjes, form part of a 1753 set made for the Bishop of Liège, Charles de Velbruck and is illustrated in Augsburgs Zilver in België, Michel Ceuterick ed., Provincial Museum Sterckshof, 1994, p. 42, 44.

Goldsmith Johann Heinrich Darjes was born in 1692 in Boddien, Mecklenburg. He became a master goldsmith in 1733, married twice, and died in 1760.