Leitão e Irmão - Fruit bowl - Silver, Porcelain

Blue cobalt porcelain fruit holder with silver mount — Leitão & Irmão. Circular-format fruit holder, made in European porcelain from the late 19th to early 20th century, featuring a low, deep body with a fluted contour. The exterior is entirely glazed in an intense cobalt-blue with a glossy finish, contrasting with the white porcelain interior. The interior decoration consists of small naturalistic branches and flowers, evenly dispersed over the surface, painted in polychromy in blue, violet, yellow, orange, green, and pink. The delicate, spaced composition gives the piece an elegant, balanced, and characteristic look of European decorative porcelain from this period. The top is enhanced by an elaborate Portuguese silver mounting, consisting of a plain edge applied to the rim, accompanied by a frieze of small spheres. Below the rim, there is a relief decoration formed by successive hanging garlands, held by bows and rosettes, with plant-like elements, flowers, leaves, and fruits. The ornamentation, executed with notable detail, runs around the entire perimeter of the vessel and creates a marked contrast between the silver’s shine and the dark blue porcelain background. The mounting bears Portuguese hallmark contrasts, notably “javali II,” corresponding to silver with a minimum fineness of 833 thousandths, used between 1887 and 1937, as well as the maker’s mark of the prestigious Portuguese house Leitão & Irmão. Decorative and functional piece, representative of late 19th-century Portuguese luxury production and the early decades of the 20th century, combining polychrome porcelain with silverwork.

Era: late 19th century
Mounting maker: Leitão & Irmão
Materials: polychrome porcelain and Portuguese silver 833 fineness
Marks: contrast “javali II” and maker’s mark Leitão & Irmão
Total weight: 1200 grams
Silver weight: 180 grams
Dimensions: 9 cm height × 21 cm diameter

Condition: shows signs of use and aging compatible with age, including slight oxidation. The porcelain remains in good condition.