The saga of the pearl “La Peregrina” is well known to the public, since it was removed from the bottom of the Caribbean sea in the 16th century, until it reached, more than 400 years later, the neckline of Elizabeth Taylor. But this route, full of adventures, mysteries and dramatic moments, is not the only case in the “life” of objects whose real and symbolic value made them very coveted by various personalities, at different times. Among us, the Manueline silver salver that arrived at the Royal Treasury Museum in May, as part of a set of pieces acquired by the Portuguese State, has a Romanesque history, which, at various times, accompanies and illustrates various passages of History itself. from Portugal.
Who tells the DN is the antique dealer and gallery owner Mário Roque, who sold it to the Ministry of Culture: “This salver is part of a set of 23 pieces that King D. José acquired after the Lisbon earthquake, in which it was lost all the contents of Paço da Ribeira, which was incalculably rich. Today we know that there were even silver chairs.” Placed in such a need by the tragedy of November 1, 1755, the monarch acquired a set of pieces of apparatus, to be used in the protocol ceremonies of the Court, even if this was provisionally installed in what the people of Lisbon, with their usual verve , called “Real Barraca”.
The following chapters of the “life” of this salvo and the other pieces reflect the difficulties of Portuguese life throughout the 19th century: In 1808, they were taken to Rio de Janeiro by the royal family, which thus escaped the French invasions. On his return, Dom João VI brought 19 and 4 stayed in Brazil with Prince D. Pedro. This is one of those that remained, it was used in the christening of Princess Maria da Glória, future Dona Maria II. It would return to Europe with D. Pedro and was deposited in the Bank of England to finance the liberal cause against Dom Miguel’s troops. Dona Maria II would rescue it, having been registered in the royal maintenance (service that provided what was considered essential in the travels of the royal family, in Portugal and abroad), in 1842. It stayed in the Palácio das Necessidades for about 20 years , when it moved to the Ajuda palace, where the couple formed by D. Luís and Dona Maria Pia would take up residence. Also at that time, Charles Thompson, a photographer at the service of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, would come to Portugal to record important pieces of goldwork of the Crown. Among those chosen, this salvo of rocambolesque fate is once again counted.
Still in the reign of D. Luís, the sage was to be loaned for the exhibition of Portuguese Ornamental Art, which takes place here in Lisbon, but this will also be its last public appearance as property of the Crown. Then there is a hiatus between 1882 and 1891, when it appears in the possession of a private individual, in this case the Marquês da Foz, a well-known banker from the final period of the Monarchy. How it ended up there, we do not know, although Mário Roque suggests some hypotheses: “We know that the Crown’s assets were inalienable, except when they had some defect. This may have served as an argument for King D. Carlos to sell it, in a situation of greater grip”. As we know, there was no lack of these between the last quarter of the 19th century and the regicide in 1908.
But we are still far from the end of the story: in 1892, the Marquis declares bankruptcy and the salver is auctioned at Christie’s, in London, being bought by a certain Mr.Cooper, whose identity Mário Roque was unable to ascertain. hands of a French antique dealer, who even had a store and very good contacts in Lisbon, and from his heirs it passed to a Spanish collector, from whom Mário Roque finally bought it in 2019. “I showed it only once at Cordoaria Nacional and the Portuguese State quickly made me a proposal, still through the former Minister of Culture, Graça Fonseca. I received others but I gave priority to the State. It is a Renaissance piece that represents the excellence of Portuguese jewelery from the Manueline period. We do not know who its first owner was, as the original coat of arms was erased when it came into possession of the Crown. But it was certainly a noble family of some importance.”
This final destination (or, at least, it is hoped) could not please Mário Roque more. “I believe that any antique dealer should be concerned with promoting Portuguese art in the world and doing everything in his power to enrich museums. its sale to a foreign museum, as this is also promoting knowledge of our heritage and culture abroad.” And he highlights the example of the Museum of Singapore, which already has an important nucleus of Portuguese art from the Age of Discoveries.
This motivation fills many of his prospecting trips around the world. You often find yourself investing in pieces that, at the outset, you know will not be easy to sell. And he gives an example of the Indo-Portuguese vestment piece he found in Goa and which belonged to the former Monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine, which was closed when religious orders were abolished in Portugal in the first half of the 19th century. “It’s four meters long, nobody has room for something like this anymore”, he admits. Or the case of the altar torchbearer, whose pieces of carving he found dispersed in Bombay, until he managed to reconstitute the base. “It lacks the column but you can tell it belongs to an Indo-Portuguese torch holder”, he says.
He recently sold pieces of Portuguese faience from the 17th century to the Shanghai Museum. “They have a unique historical value. It is the first European earthenware with Chinese motifs. The French and English have the craze that they invented the chinoiserie, but it’s not true. It was us. Another novelty that we introduced at this time was monochrome earthenware and the quality was such that we exported it to the great royal houses. Finally, Delft earthenware only appeared because it was too expensive for Europe to come to Portugal, which was far away, making transport too expensive.”
This mission that Mário Roque took on stems from the observation, repeated over the years, that continental Europe does not know Portugal: “English antique dealers know our art and heritage, but this does not happen in France, Italy or Germany, for example. we are not like in 1975, when I arrived in Belgium to study medicine, and they asked me where Portugal was, but there is still a lot of ignorance.” The antiquarian could verify it in loco, not 30 or 20 years ago, but 6 years ago, in 2016, when he participated for the first time in the Paris Biennale: “Nobody knew that we had an ancient art of such historical and artistic importance. I see pieces abroad that could be important for our culture, to enrich our heritage, I try to acquire them. My patriotism goes through that.” It is therefore with pleasure that, from time to time, he receives the visit of foreign visitors who seek him out on Rua de São Bento, where he has the São Roque shop and gallery, after having visited his stands at international events.
Mário Roque also considers that museums, art historians and antique dealers should work as a team. “At least until the twentieth century, the real experts in Art History it was the antique dealers. I believe we can still make an important contribution to tasks such as detecting counterfeits, also because of the sensory experience we have.”
In his store, Mário Roque also promotes the educational component of his mission, by annually receiving interns from masters in Art Markets and Museology and from the degree in Art History. “I think we can learn a lot from each other.”
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