Large Heavy 18th c. Ladle Arras France Female Widow Silversmith Fauquette Armorial
14” Long, 260 grams or 8.4 troy ounces.
Normally I don’t buy pieces that are buffed, but there are exceptions, and this one I couldn’t resist.
It was sold by a widow silversmith Marie-Anne-Théodore FAUQUETTE, in Arras France c. 1786 I had no luck finding the owner of the coat of arms. If you are interested in French marking systems you might enjoy an article I wrote for Silver Magazine in March/April 2016 Issue, part quoted below about this ladle.
It’s only problem is it was buffed. The coat of arms and marks are clear, the story is interesting. This is one antique you can use every day, as the patina builds up, the value will too.
In this example the date is 1786 and the object is a chair. But that is not the only thing unusual about the marks on this ladle, turning the page around we see the maker’s mark. Whenever you see a V in a French maker’s mark it is worth researching, as it may be that of a “veuve” or widow. Depending on the area concerned, widows were sometimes given permission to keep their husband’s shop open after his demise. I doubt very many were really trained to make a piece of silver, even those who worked in the field were usually only polishers or finishers. That doesn’t mean they weren’t capable of running a shop, and they often did, some quite well. They had journeymen working for them, and could be keeping the business going with the hope of handing it over to a son in training. But there were rules, varying from place to place, the one rule I believe was always in effect, the widow could not continue running the shop, if she remarried.
Marie-Anne-Théodore FAUQUETTE was married to Alexis-Joseph Le Gavrian whose mark was AIG and who died in 1780 leaving our lady with three small children to support. Arras was a town that did not often allow widows to run their shops, but she carried on. The custom was to have a mark cut, his being destroyed on his death, in her case either VG for Veuve Gavrian or perhaps
MFV, but in fact she used VIL for Veuve Joseph LeGavrian. Perhaps she used to call him Joseph and liked the alternate spelling of his name. In any case she didn’t stop there. She decided to remarry and on April 9 1783 asked for permission to keep the shop open if she did. Three days later it was allowed by letters patent of the King. Did she have friends at court, or was she a French woman who knew how to get around the system? She is a fascinating example and we can only imagine the details between the lines, or the marks, as it were.
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