AN UNUSUAL AND RARE SILVER TROMPE L'OEIL EWER

In early August 1885, Emperor Alexander III arrived in Helsinki, a city richly adorned in celebration of the Imperial visit. The Emperor was accompanied by his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna and his son, the heir apparent, Tsarevich Nicholas. As part of the festivities to celebrate the royal visit, the family visited Nyland Yacht Club’s newly built pavilion on the tranquil island of Valkosaari in Helsinki’s southern harbour. The club had been founded by Emperor Alexander II, and the Tsarevich Nicholas was now its patron. To commemorate the visit, the Emperor presented the club with a trophy to be presented to the winner of the Helsinki Regatta.

The trophy takes the form of a hunting ewer and is the work of the renowned silversmith Jean-Baptiste Vaillant. Vaillant arrived in St Petersburg around 1842 and quickly established himself as one of the city’s leading silversmiths. In 1847 he was commissioned to produce an Imperial prize for the annual Peterhof Regatta and, by the next year, he was supplying the Imperial Court. He was noted for the exquisite craftmanship seen in the ornately cast and chased bear and tassels of the present lot, and for combining the talents of a sculptor with that of a silversmith that created pieces famed for their quality.

With such a fitting prize, Nyland Yacht Club organised a large regatta that same year. Sailing under a light breeze, 42 vessels set off around a triangular circuit skirting the Suomenlinna island fortress. The sailboat ‘Nana’ crossed the line first and the crew were awarded this most impressive of prizes.