Yves Saint Laurent Pierre Bergé - Christie's

138
The Baden Silver
and Gold
Among many other highlights, two superb pieces, formerly in the
Baden Collection, stand out, having remained in that family until
privately purchased and sold to the present owners. A rare Zurich
gold cup was presented by seven Swiss cantons and the towns of
Biel and Mulhouse to commemorate the baptism of the son of
Margrave Carl Friedrich von Baden-Durlach (1728–1811) in 1755. In
addition, arguably the finest and one of the earliest pieces in the
collection – a quite wonderful filigree and enamel dish by Abraham
I Lotter, dated 1561 – is thought to commemorate the baptism of
Karl II, Margrave of Baden (r.1553–1577) into the Lutheran faith. It
is applied with scenes of Samson and Delilah, Aristotle and Phyllis
and Jezebel and King Ahab before Baal, based on illustrations in a
16th-century German book entitled, in English, Women’s Wiles.
Margrave Carl Friedrich von Baden-Durlach
An important Swiss gold christening cup, maker’s mark of Hans Heinrich Ziegler, Zurich, 1755, 11 3 ⁄8 in. (29 cm.) high
Estimate: 3100,000–150,000