Germain silverware returns to Portugal after centuries
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Collectors Maria and João Cortez de Lobão purchased four candelabras originally part of the Germain silverware set and brought them back to Portugal, 269 years after they first arrived in Lisbon.
In 1755, an earthquake destroyed much of the Portuguese royal family’s wealth in Lisbon. King José I then commissioned Parisian silversmith Thomas Germain to create a new silver service with over 1200 pieces to restore the court’s lifestyle.
The Germain silverware is now considered the only complete royal service of its kind in the world, largely displayed at the Royal Treasure Museum in the Ajuda Palace. However, some pieces had dispersed over time. The four returned candelabras were formerly part of the collection of Graziella Patiño de Ortiz Linares, the sister of Bolivian tin magnate Antenor Patiño, and sold at auction for 3.4 million euros.
The candelabras’ creation involved over 100 artisans, beginning with Thomas Germain in 1729 and continuing with his son, François-Thomas Germain, after the 1755 earthquake. The pieces feature satyr bases made by the elder Germain and arms added by his son. The Fundação Gaudium Magnum, which acquired the candelabras, is now negotiating with museums in Lisbon, including the National Museum of Ancient Art and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, to exhibit them publicly.
