LONDON.- The finest group of museum-quality silver remaining in private hands leads the exceptional Blaquier-Arrieta Collection, which will be a highlight of Classic Week at Christie's London in December. Offered across two live auctions on 1 and 2 December, the centrepiece of the collection and a tour de force of French 18th-century silver is a magnificent Louis XV silver soup tureen, a celebrated masterpiece and one of the few surviving works by the revered goldsmith-sculptor Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1695-1750). Commissioned by The Duke of Kingston in the 1730s, it epitomises the revolutionary Rococo style, with its asymmetric, naturalistic form and fluidity of movement, depicting exquisite animals, marine and organic motifs cast directly from life (estimate: £4,000,000-6,000,000). The breadth and depth of the works of art presented (50 lots in Part I and approximately 280 in Part II) spans exceptional Limoges enamels, Italian 16th and 17th-century bronzes and Old Master Paintings, to important gold boxes, 18th-century French furniture, Impressionist bronzes and works on paper. Estimates range from £800 to £6,000,000.

The Meissonnier Tureen

Taking the form of a magnificent stylised shell, this cast soup tureen rests on bunches of celery, onions and a carrot with leaves extending to form handles. The body is chased with swirling flutes, the 'shell' cover is decorated with exquisite cast models of a duck, crab, fish, oyster, and snails, amongst an artichoke and other leafy vegetables. The stand is chased with radiating rocaille and with an undulating border of asymmetric scrolls, supported on one side by a bunch of salsify with veined leaves. Of impressive proportions, it weighs over 20 kilograms.

Commissioned in Paris between 1734-36 by Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston, it is one of a pair. An 18th-century etching illustrated the two tureens, flanking a centrepiece, which was probably never produced. One of only a handful of surviving works by Meissonnier, the tureens are also signed by him. When offered together at Christie's Geneva in November 1977, they broke the world auction record for any piece of silver, selling for CHF 2.79 million. The buyer divided the pair, with the present tureen entering the esteemed collection of Baron Heinz Thyssen-Bornemisza; the other now resides in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, where it has undergone extensive study and research and is the focus of their current exhibition dedicated to Meissonnier. Among other rare surviving works by this genius polymath, who is considered the father of the Rococo, is a gold-mounted rock crystal ewer which was owned by Marie-Antoinette, now in the Louvre and a gold-mounted lapis lazuli snuff-box, sold by Christie's to the Cleveland Museum of Art in a private sale.

Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier: Patron and Collector

This collection, formed by Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier (1931-2020) and Carlos Pedro Blaquier (1927-2023), shines a spotlight on the extraordinary connoisseurship and passion of Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier, the driving force behind Argentina's largest private collection. Generously sharing many rare and beautiful objects from her private world, particularly silver masterpieces, she was known and widely respected by curators, academics and fellow collectors, loaning works of art to exhibitions in Argentina and around the world. Recognised as one of the greatest patrons of the arts in Argentina, Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier was honoured by the Frick Collection at their autumn dinner in 2010 and proudly served on many boards including the Asociación Amigos del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Argentina from 1977 until 2011, then becoming Honorary President until her death. Other institutions she supported tirelessly included the National Academy of Fine Arts, the Fundación Teatro Colón and the Fundación Fondo para el Patrimonio Argentino. Always keen to expand her knowledge, Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier's silver collecting journey began with the guidance of the legendary silver dealer Jacques Helft (1891-1980). The outstanding silver collection she went on to build focused on the luminaries of 18th-century silver, Nicolas Besnier, Thomas Germain, Claude Ballin, Pierre Balzac and Robert-Joseph Auguste. This collection is incomparable to any other in private hands, both in terms of its craftsmanship and its breadth, reflecting her passion, depth of knowledge, thirst for discovery and determination to acquire the very best.

The Collection

Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier was enchanted by 18th Century France, as the collection reflects. The silver spans the reigns of Louis XIV to Louis XVI with many Royal commissions, exceptional models and fascinating provenances; there is also a notable group of English 18th-century silver including pieces from the Warrington Service. The exquisite group of gold snuff-boxes points to another of her passions, with many having been purchased from great collections that were dispersed in her lifetime, including Jaime Ortiz Patiño's series of sales at Christie's London in 1973-1974 and from renowned dealers such as Kenneth Snowman and S.J. Philips (estimates range from £1,200 to £350,000). The French 18th-century furniture represents a roll-call of some of the greatest ébénistes and bronziers of the day, from Riesener, Carlin, and Roger Van Der Cruse (RVLC), to Caffieri and Rémond, led by a pair of Louis XV giltwood pliants by Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot (estimate: £200,000-300,000). The Impressionist works of art reflect her love of the sea and her passion for figural sculpture, including bronzes by Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas and Emile-Antoine Boudelle, a port scene of Bordeaux by Eugene Boudin, eighteen works on paper from Paul Signac's Ports de France series (estimates from £10,000 to £35,000) and drawings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. A focused group of devotional works of art includes Limoges enamels, an extraordinarily detailed boxwood group of The Virgin and Child (estimate: £80,000-120,000), and Saint Agnes by Francesco Traini (estimate: £60,000-80,000). A small group of Old Master Paintings and Drawings is led by a vibrant floral still-life depicting roses, tulips, lilies, irises and peonies by the Flemish artist Jan Brueghel II (estimate: £300,000-500,000).

Charles Cator, Deputy Chairman, Christie's International: “It was a joy accompanying Nelly on her journey as a collector over more than twenty years. One of the great privileges of our job is hearing collectors talk of how their journey began, the people who influenced them at the start, who inspired and enthused them, so with Nelly one was immediately in the world of the great dealer and connoisseur Jacques Helft. His advice on the silver collection was paramount and led to one of the greatest collections of French 18th-century silver ever assembled, as this sale demonstrates. This collection brings back very special memories including a summer lunch with Hubert de Givenchy on her annual trip to Paris, visiting the curators and collectors who were so much part of her refined world of collecting and patronage.”

Highlights will be on view in Paris from 29 October until 3 November, ahead of the full pre-sale exhibition of Part I and Part II of the collection at Christie's London, opening to the public on 23 November until 1 December. In 2027, Part III of the collection will be offered in an online Paris silver sale, with more details to follow.