Lot 41 | Splendid silver Empire centerpiece

SPLENDID SILVER EMPIRE CENTERPIECE.

Weimar.
Date: Around 1873.
Maker/Designer: Robert Härtel.
Technique: Silver, tested.
Description: Round, indented foot with acanthus and palmette relief on octogonal plinth. Four plastic figurines, representing the four seasons, surrounding the slender shaft. Each wearing antique robes and holding corresponding attributes in their hands.
Above, a protruding, flatly hollowed bowl with acanthus relief on its underside.
Below the slightly flared edge, a wide frieze with depictions of rural topics such as hunting, farming, field work or winegrowing. In two cartouches on opposing upper sides of the foot the monogram "CAP" and the date "August 26, 1873".
Weight: 7560g.
Measurement: Height 38,5cm, ø 34cm.
Mark: On the bottom of the plinth's edge inscribed "R.Haertel fec.". 900 silver, tested.


Provenance:
- Was probably given to grand Duke Karl August and Duchess Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach as a wedding present on August 26, 1873.
- Private collection Vienna.
- Private collection Berlin.

The sculptor Robert Härtel (1831-1894) started his education in Weimar by taking drawing lessons with Friedrich Preller, where he then was apprentice to a goldsmith. During the following years, he joined the studio of Ernst Hähnel in Dresden as a sculptor. Besides statues for the Semper Opera in Dresden, he also repeatedly executed commissions for the Grand Dukes of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach. For example, he created an allegory of poetry for Amalia of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach (1830-1872) or 1868 the impressive relief frieze with the depiction of the Battle of Hermann for the Grand Ducal Museum in Weimar. Because of Härtel's close relationship to the Grand Ducal house and due to the engraved date and monogram at the foot of the centerpiece, it is reasonable to assume that the object was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Grand Duke Karl August with Duchess Pauline of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach on the 26th of August 1873.