Stunning Antique Silver Lidded Pot | French Swan Hallmark | Greek Key & Floral Repoussé | 1895–1930
Description:
A truly exquisite antique silver covered pot of baluster form, richly decorated in repoussé with a detailed frieze featuring Greek key motifs, fruits, foliage, and elegant interlacing patterns. This stunning piece is both decorative and historically significant, bearing the French import hallmark “swan” on both the lid and the base—used from 1893 onward to denote imported silver of at least .800 fineness.
The pot stands gracefully on a round piedouche foot adorned with finely worked leaf motifs, complementing the intricate upper detailing. Based on its distinctive craftsmanship and stylistic elements, the piece is likely of Indian or Cambodian origin and was imported into France during the late 19th to early 20th century—estimated between 1895 and 1930.
A rare fusion of Neoclassical and Orientalist influences, this lidded vessel is ideal for collectors of fine antique silver, Asian export wares, or French-imported objets d'art.
Features & Details:
Material: Solid silver (.800 fineness or higher)
Hallmarks: French Swan hallmark (on lid and base)
Origin: Likely Indian or Cambodian (imported into France)
Style: Baluster form with repoussé decoration
Motifs: Greek key, fruit & foliage, interlaced patterns
Foot: Round piedouche with leaf detailing
Condition: Very good antique condition. The lid has two small dents or areas slightly out of shape, consistent with age and use. Minor surface wear present.
Dimensions:
Height: 12.5 inches (approx. 32 cm)
Diameter: 7 inches (approx. 18 cm)
Weight: 1.295 kg / 2.86 lbs
Shipping & Handling:
Professionally packed for safe delivery.
Insured and tracked international shipping available.
Fast dispatch—handled with care.
Repoussé — the technique of raising decoration from the reverse of a metal sheet through careful hammering, then chasing and refining from the front — is among the most demanding of all metalwork skills. The craftsman works from behind on a surface he cannot see, and refines from the front a form he shaped blind. The result, when the work is good, is decoration with a three-dimensionality and a crispness that casting cannot replicate.
This covered urn, at nearly three pounds of silver, is a substantial object with genuine physical presence. The Greek key border at the shoulder is precisely cut and even; the fruit and foliage swags across the body are fully modeled, each element distinct. The twin handles and domed lid with cast finial give the form its classical urn profile — the vessel that the neoclassical movement, with its obsession with antiquity, made the luxury object of the age.
At 2.86 pounds, this urn anchors any surface it sits on. Interior designers describe objects of this type as the anchor of a tablescaping or shelving arrangement — the piece everything else is scaled against.
Stunning Antique Silver Lidded Pot | French Swan Hallmark | Greek Key & Floral Repoussé | 1895–1930
Description:
A truly exquisite antique silver covered pot of baluster form, richly decorated in repoussé with a detailed frieze featuring Greek key motifs, fruits, foliage, and elegant interlacing patterns. This stunning piece is both decorative and historically significant, bearing the French import hallmark “swan” on both the lid and the base—used from 1893 onward to denote imported silver of at least .800 fineness.
The pot stands gracefully on a round piedouche foot adorned with finely worked leaf motifs, complementing the intricate upper detailing. Based on its distinctive craftsmanship and stylistic elements, the piece is likely of Indian or Cambodian origin and was imported into France during the late 19th to early 20th century—estimated between 1895 and 1930.
A rare fusion of Neoclassical and Orientalist influences, this lidded vessel is ideal for collectors of fine antique silver, Asian export wares, or French-imported objets d'art.
Features & Details:
Material: Solid silver (.800 fineness or higher)
Hallmarks: French Swan hallmark (on lid and base)
Origin: Likely Indian or Cambodian (imported into France)
Style: Baluster form with repoussé decoration
Motifs: Greek key, fruit & foliage, interlaced patterns
Foot: Round piedouche with leaf detailing
Condition: Very good antique condition. The lid has two small dents or areas slightly out of shape, consistent with age and use. Minor surface wear present.
Dimensions:
Height: 12.5 inches (approx. 32 cm)
Diameter: 7 inches (approx. 18 cm)
Weight: 1.295 kg / 2.86 lbs
Shipping & Handling:
Professionally packed for safe delivery.
Insured and tracked international shipping available.
Fast dispatch—handled with care.
Repoussé — the technique of raising decoration from the reverse of a metal sheet through careful hammering, then chasing and refining from the front — is among the most demanding of all metalwork skills. The craftsman works from behind on a surface he cannot see, and refines from the front a form he shaped blind. The result, when the work is good, is decoration with a three-dimensionality and a crispness that casting cannot replicate.
This covered urn, at nearly three pounds of silver, is a substantial object with genuine physical presence. The Greek key border at the shoulder is precisely cut and even; the fruit and foliage swags across the body are fully modeled, each element distinct. The twin handles and domed lid with cast finial give the form its classical urn profile — the vessel that the neoclassical movement, with its obsession with antiquity, made the luxury object of the age.
At 2.86 pounds, this urn anchors any surface it sits on. Interior designers describe objects of this type as the anchor of a tablescaping or shelving arrangement — the piece everything else is scaled against.
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