Sterling silver « à la du Belloy » Coffee pot, Paris 19th century

Complete filter coffee pot in solid silver by Maison HARLEUX silversmith. It consists of the coffee pot itself with a doucine lid topped with a spinning top grip. The filter on top, like the coffee pot, is elegantly decorated with mouldings. The solid silver pusher and basket are characterised by their fine workmanship and delicate grips.

Marks :
• Minerve 1st title (French mark for solid silver 950/1000).
• Master goldsmith: HARLEUX.

Gross weight: 640 grams.

The "du Belloy" or "Dubelloire" coffee maker takes its name from Jean-Baptiste de BELLOY de MORANGLES (1709-1808), archbishop of Paris and later cardinal, who is said to have invented it around 1800.
This was the first percolating coffee maker. Following on from infusion, decoction and boiling, this method allows the coffee to be filtered and all its flavours to be extracted. The coffee maker consists of two superimposed containers, separated by a filter compartment. By leaching, the hot water poured into the upper compartment passes slowly through the fine particles of coffee to the lower container, which collects the spent beverage.
The actual origin of this coffee maker is debated. It is thought to be the work of the Rouen chemist DESCROIZILLES (1751-1825), whose tinsmith stole the idea before presenting the machine to the prelate, who was a great lover of coffee.
In any case, Monseigneur de Belloy made it widely known and very soon the great names were praising it, such as GRIMOD de LA REYNIÈRE in his famous "Almanach des Gourmands" (1805), Doctor Joseph GASTALDI (chairman of La Reynière's tasting panel), and BRILLAT-SAVARIN in his "Physiology of Taste" (1825). BALZAC swallowed litres of coffee prepared in a "du Belloy", and the meticulous preparation of the "essence of coffee" essential to Marcel PROUST in a coffee-maker of this type is recounted in tasty detail by his faithful lady-in-waiting (Céleste ALBARET, "Monsieur Proust - Souvenirs recueillis par Georges Belmont", Ed. Robert Laffont, 1973).
Since the invention of the "du Belloy" coffee maker, many other techniques have been developed and adopted, but this one is still in vogue among coffee lovers.


HARLEUX

Jean-Baptiste HARLEUX was a Parisian silversmith based at 15 rue du Grand Hurleur. His hallmark was registered in 1834. The business was then passed on and moved to 32-34 rue Pastourelle.
The HARLEUX firm produced goldsmiths' wares, including some very luxurious "utilitarian" items. Among the impressive pieces traditionally prized at the time, such as torches, tea sets, samovars, ewers, etc. in styles borrowed from 18th-century France, are a bucket, a tray-pasteur and an absinthe grate, as well as an exceptional zoomorphic egg dish (FW Auction, "Première partie de la collection du Vicomte de C", 14 November 2021, sold for €20,000).


MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

• MUSÉE VERGER-TARIN, AUTUN, Mustard pot, Silver, Paris, 1854-1875.
• MUSÉE BERTRAND, CHATEAUROUX, Cup and saucer with the Bertrand coat of arms, silver and vermeil, Paris, XIXe siècle.
• LIANG YI MUSEUM, HONG-KONG, A French four-piece tea and coffee service, argent, Paris, c. 1900.
• CATHERINE PALACE, TSARSKOÏE SELO, Naryshkin treasure, (part of) : Ignaty Sazikov, Pavel Ovchinnikov, Ivan Khlebnikov, Grachev Frêres, Carl Fabergé, Keibel, Varypaev, Falize, Aucoc Ainé, Touron, Queillé, Parisot, Harleux, Jacquart, Corne Guillaume, Cardeilhac, Dehanne


BIBLIOGRAPHY

• DELAHAYE Marie-Claude, "L'Absinthe-Les Cuillères", Musée de l'Absinthe édition, 2001.