91

A Cherubs was offered in the May 1999 semi-annual corkscrew sale at Christie

‘

s

in London. It was described as

―

A fine large ormolu* figural corkscrew, with

sliding frame, the handle formed as two putti, harvesting grapes, the pillars as

two putti caryatids, one holding a central barrel, the other pouring a glass of

wine, centre worm.

‖

The description also referred to the 1985 Sotheby

‘

s catalog

cover. It may have been the same one but the owner had since shined it up. It

sold for £4,370 (down from 1985 by £250). At that time the pound was worth

$1.60 translating the selling price to $6992.

*Ormolu - finish used on metal to imitate gold. It is employed chiefly for furniture mountings.

The term originally applied to a coating of ground gold and was extended to alloys of copper and

zinc. Ormolu mountings were characteristic of 18th-century furniture and attained their highest

artistic and technical development in France, especially in the work of Charles Cressent, Pierre

Gouthière, and Jacques Caffieri. Ormolu was produced on a large scale in England, with

Matthew Boulton the chief manufacturer. Workmanship deteriorated in the 19th cent. ...

The

Columbia Encyclopedia

, Sixth Edition. 2001

.