Candlestick (2) - Louis XIV - Silver - 1720-1740

A curious pair of Venetian candlesticks that have a very special past and representing very rare items among Venetian silverware. In fact only one candlestick is marked with the hallmark attributable to the Venetian Master Silversmith Bortolo Marinoni, active from 1720 to 1740 in Venice. The peculiarity of this object is the fact that the Master Silversmith never brought the 2 candlesticks to the Mint of Venice to have the candlesticks assayed and hallmarked with the Mint mark, which was then a lion in moleca. This omission was severely punished because taxes were not paid for the commercialisation of the two artefacts, and this was considered fraud to the State and fraud in commerce. If this crime was proven, the sentence was severe, with the expulsion of the tax evader from the Guild of Master Silversmiths; in practice he was no longer allowed to work and had to face several years in prison. A huge risk. We know about the convictions of some Master Silversmiths who in the 18th and 19th centuries were sentenced to hard years of imprisonment and radiation, as the Master Silversmith Gori of Lucca in the 18th century and another silversmith of the Papal State of the city of Macerata in the 19th century. The latter, though, managed to bribe the Judges and was acquitted; of this Master Silversmith I had a silverware set, without the hallmark of the Mint of the city, a clear proof that he was a tax evader. My set was sold at the Pandolfini auction house several years ago. Candlesticks height 20 cm, base 11. 5 x 11. 5 cm, total weight approx. 580 grams.