Sourtout centerpiece; 20th century.

Sourtout centerpiece; XX century.
Spanish silver 925.
With marks.
Measurements: 39 x 30 x 15 cm.
Weight: 5.727 g (without counterweight or moon).
The present centerpiece, conceived as a surtout, is inscribed in the tradition of the great table ornaments developed in Europe since the 18th century, whose function transcended the utilitarian to become authentic scenarios of social representation. Such pieces, common in aristocratic and bourgeois services, visually organized the banquet space, articulating the tableware and underlining the rank and taste of the host. In this case, the work, made in Spanish silver during the 20th century, takes up with remarkable fidelity the historicist models of French roots, evoking the decorative refinement of the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles reinterpreted in a contemporary key.
The composition is articulated around an oval body raised on ornamental legs, arranged on a mirrored base, a characteristic resource of the surtout that multiplies the reflections and accentuates the material richness of the whole. The lid, staggered and crowned by a delicate vegetal top, introduces an ascending rhythm that balances the horizontality of the vessel. On the sides, small child figures, putti of clear classical inspiration, act as sculptural handles, providing dynamism and a subtle narrative game that refers to the ornamental tradition inherited from the Rococo.In stylistic terms, the piece can be understood as a successful example of the decorative historicism of the twentieth century, in which the reinterpretation of past models does not imply mere copying, but a recreation adapted to new contexts of use and production.