LID SHOCK Hamburg 1673/74. Master's mark Johann... Lot 1017

LID SHOCK Hamburg 1673/74. Master's mark Johann Timme. Silver chased, chased and mainly fire-gilded. On three stemmed ball feet in the shape of pomegranates. As well as two cast cartilage handles. Lid slightly domed and set with three pomegranate balls. Bowl and lid walls decorated by chased décor of flowering branches with birds sitting inside. H 20 cm. D (without handle) 24 cm. 2120 g. Provenance: - Edmund J. Kratz Kunsthandel, Hamburg 1992. - Hamburg private collection. This goldsmith's work by Johann Timme can be assigned to the type of brandy or wedding bowl. Magnificently decorated with a chased decoration of pomegranates, as well as with further motifs taken from flora and fauna, the bowl shows on its underside in its essential features the German coat of arms of the Imperial Prince Grigori Potemkin (1739-1791), the confidant and long-time lover of the Russian Tsarina, Catherine the Great (1729-1796). In March 1776 Potemkin was appointed Prince of the Holy Roman Empire by the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II. It is possible that this bowl was presented to him as a gift for his appointment as Prince of the German Empire. Small deviations in Potemkin's coat of arms can probably be traced back to the fact that the engraver had received the order before the appointment as Imperial Prince.