Antique Baroque Chalice. Silver-Gilt. Favier Frères. Lyon, France, ca. 1880

Antique Baroque Silver-Gilt Chalice. Favier Frères. Lyon, France, ca. 1880

Important French Baroque-style chalice made in Lyon around 1880 by the firm Favier Frères, executed entirely in silver-gilt and with a quality of workmanship that is evident at first glance. It is a piece of extraordinary presence, elegant in its proportions and especially rich in its ornamental program, with iconography carefully distributed across the base, stem knot and lower cup. Its substantial height of 30 cm gives it notable stature within this type of liturgical work, and the whole retains a magnificent appearance both for its design and for the condition in which it has come down to us.

The base is one of the richest and most attractive parts of the chalice. At its center appears a cross in relief, flanked by three very finely worked figural medallions. One of them shows Christ in bust form, with his hand placed over his chest and his head surrounded by a radiant halo, creating an image of great devotional force. Another medallion shows Saint Joseph holding the Christ Child in his arms, in a warm and intimate composition, executed with fine detail in both the faces and the folds of the garments. The third medallion shows the Virgin Mary as a young woman, with her hands joined in prayer and her head slightly inclined, in a serene and very carefully rendered image. Between these medallions runs a decoration of vines and wheat ears, clearly Eucharistic motifs, treated with fine relief and abundant detail. On the outer band of the base these elements appear again, accompanied as well by several symbols of the Passion, including the nails, the crown of thorns and the whip, all integrated into the ornamentation. All of this gives the base great variety, a great deal of workmanship and a religious content that is highly visible from every angle.

The stem knot is equally richly worked. It is not an area treated in a secondary way, but an important part of the design, both for its volume and for its decoration. Here again appear vines, wheat ears and reeds, integrated with balance into the composition. All of this gives it texture, movement and depth, and makes the stem especially attractive in the hand. This ornamental work greatly improves the transition between the base and the cup, and shows careful silversmithing of the kind expected from an important maker. In addition, the gilding helps bring out the relief work and multiplies the visual effect of these decorative areas without becoming excessive.

The lower cup maintains the same level of workmanship and once again concentrates much of the visual interest of the piece. Here are arranged three medallions dedicated to the theological virtues, each rendered with a female figure in relief. One of them shows Faith, seated, holding a cross in one hand and a chalice in the other, in a very clear representation that is very characteristic of this type of piece. Another shows Hope, also seated, with an anchor resting beside her, in a serene and well-composed image. The third medallion is dedicated to Charity, represented as a mother with children around her, in a warmer and livelier scene that also introduces a very pleasing contrast with the other two figures. The three medallions are framed within finely drawn cartouches and stand out against the gilded ground of the cup, with figures in good relief and visible details in the faces, hair, folds of the garments and the attributes of each virtue. Between them once again appear openwork vegetal motifs, wheat ears, leaves and grape clusters, linking this area with the decoration of the rest of the chalice and giving the lower cup a very rich and highly worked appearance.

The chalice bears hallmarks in several parts of the piece. Specifically, they are found on the base, where both the French silver marks and those of the silversmith Javier Freres appear, and also on the lower cup and on the cup itself. As for its condition, the chalice is in excellent used and preserved condition. The gilding remains in very good condition. This good state of preservation allows one to appreciate more fully the fineness of the decorative work and the richness of the iconography throughout all its parts.

This is an especially attractive Baroque chalice, both for its size and for the richness of its decoration and the good overall condition it presents. It could be a magnificent piece for a priest about to be ordained, for a parish or chapel wishing to reintroduce a chalice of true presence into liturgical use, or for a collector seeking a well-executed work of sacred art with strong visual impact. Its gilding, the quality of the reliefs, the abundance of iconography and the solidity of the whole make it far from an ordinary chalice, but rather a piece with real substance and the ability to stand out on its own. It is the kind of work that brings together devotion, quality and beauty in a single piece, and for that very reason it is not the sort of object that usually goes unnoticed for long once it comes onto the market.

Measurements: Height 30 cm (11.81 in). Cup diameter 8.8 cm (3.46 in). Base diameter 14.7 cm (5.79 in). Weight: 473 g. (16.68 oz.)

History of Favier Frères

The Favier house was one of the leading names in nineteenth-century Lyonnais religious silversmithing. French heritage sources link the name Favier Frères to a family workshop active in Lyon from the 1820s onward, initially around André-Michel Favier and Jean-Marie François Henri Favier, and later with other members of the family, including Jean-Baptiste and Claude Favier. The most recognizable mark of the firm, with the letters FF and a sun in a horizontal lozenge, appears documented on numerous liturgical pieces preserved in French churches and public collections, which gives a good idea of the reach and prestige achieved by this workshop.

Lyon was then one of the great French centers for the production of ecclesiastical silverwork, and houses such as Favier supplied chalices, ciboria, monstrances and other devotional objects for parishes, chapels and religious communities. Their production is appreciated for the care of the relief work, for the richness of the devotional and Eucharistic iconography, and for a solid technical execution, very much in keeping with the great development of French liturgical silverwork in the nineteenth century.

In a piece such as this chalice, it is easy to understand why the Favier house enjoyed such high regard. It is not merely a functional object for worship, but a work conceived to convey dignity, visual richness and symbolic content. For that reason, the name Favier remains highly valued today within French sacred art and among collectors seeking liturgical pieces of real quality and strong presence.