cabral moncada leilões 166
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3. Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723-ca.-1805) was the most important
French goldsmith of the 18th C. (2nd half) and the supplier of several
European Royal Houses, among them Sweden, Denmark, Russia, England
and Portugal, as well as of important nobility families,
such as, the Dukes of Cadaval, in Portugal. Originally belonging
to the House of Cadaval, later incorporated in the Collection
of Prof. Dr. Juvenal Esteves, a tureen by Auguste was sold in 1997
at Silva’s Auction House for € 206,000 establishing a new auction sales
record for silverware in Portugal.
The present candelabra were part of the Collection of Estevão Pereira
Palha van Zeller, and integrated “The French Art Exhibition” held in
1934 at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, together with other works
by Auguste, proceeding from the Royal House as well as from private
important collections, among them another pair of candelabra,
with different decoration (belonging to Dr. José Gomes Pulido Garcia’s
Collection, Beja), were shown. The importance of Auguste justifies
the presence of his works in the best Museums in the world from
the Louvre to the Metropolitan of New York City. Four other candelabra
very similar to the ones now put to auction, were sold at Sotheby’s
in 1993, resulting in the scattering of the Collection of the Earl
Harcourt, former Ambassador of George III to France, where they were
purchased. There is no knowledge of other candelabra by Auguste
in the market after 1993which confirms the importance of the pair
now being presented.
