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The goldsmith and common metal collection of the Peleș National Museum, composed of approximately 5,500 pieces, includes objects of great artistic and documentary value. The pieces belonged to the kings and queens of Romania, other members of the Romanian Royal House and some personalities, their contemporaries
The core of the collection was created by King Charles I, by purchasing pieces from various metal processing centers in Europe, Asia and the United States, a process continued with passion by his successors. Serving as a pretext to mark various important moments in the lives of sovereigns, anniversaries, births, marriages, commemorations, defining events for the history of Romania, the valuable goldsmith's objects become witnesses of the past and history.
Royal orders were sent to important workshops in Germany, such as those in Nuremberg, Augsburg, Munich, Hanau, Dresden, Frankfurt. The pieces bear the marks of well-known authors, such as Paul Telge, Ed. Wollenweber, Simon Rosenau, JD Schleissner, B. Neresheimer, Jacob Grimminger, Herbert Zeitner, purveyors to the royal family.
Representative of the castle's goldsmith collection is the jubilee vessel specially created by the goldsmith P. Telge, from Berlin, made of solid silver, partially gilded and cabochons, given to King Charles I on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The piece impresses with its dimensions and weight (H:124 cm, D:53 cm, G:26 Kg, Tl:800‰ Ag). It should be noted that approximately one third of the silverware collection is represented by German creations: goblets, decorative beer mugs, tableware, decorative figurines, snuffboxes, neckties, photo frames, key rings, hairpins, pens, writing cases, services toilet bowls, engagement cups, decorative plates.
The English workshops in London, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Birmingham, Chester enriched the royal collection with special objects. The silversmiths Eduard Barnarc, W. Hutton, Martin Hall, William Cooper, James Rodgers, Frederick Bradford, Richard Hennel, the authors of a large number of silver and gold pieces made, among other objects of great artistic value in the collection, the cup of at the baptism of Prince Ferdinand, given to him by his godmother, Victoria, the wife of Emperor Friedrich III in 1865 and the snuffbox that Princess Maria received from her paternal grandmother, Queen Victoria, in 1897, at the Jubilee of 60 years of her reign. The snuff box with Maria's signature in blue enamel, as well as one of her travel kits, received on the occasion of the wedding with Crown Prince Ferdinand and the cup with a gilded silver lid, given to King Carol II after the renovation of the royal palace in Bucharest, from 1937, also represents special works for silverware originating from the British Empire, in addition to the famous tea services, decorative cups, platters
France is represented by the pieces executed in the famous workshops in Paris, Dijon, Rouen. Tony Szirmai, Gustav Keller, Meurice Fourment, Christoffle, Antoine Cosson Corby contributed to the enrichment of the royal metal collection by executing some highly valuable pieces: letter boxes, engraved with a dedication to King Charles I, silver cutlery with coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania, planters, boxes, candlesticks, trays, sugar bowls decorated with rocaille motifs of a rare finesse, specific to the Parisian spirit.
The quality of the objects made in Austria, in Vienna, by the famous artists Hartmann, Carl Hiess, Georg Adam Scheid, those created in Italy in Bologna, Rome, Milan, together with the pieces produced in the Czech Republic in Brno and those produced in Lucerne, are impressive in Switzerland.
Russian workshops, renowned for their quality and distinctive metalworking techniques, are illustrated by pieces produced in workshops in St. Petersburg, Moscow, renowned workshops also due to their status as Suppliers to the Russian Imperial House. The works of goldsmiths Carl Fabergé, Mikhail Evlampievici Perkhin, Anders Johansson Nevalailen, Ivan Khlebnikov, Aleksader Timofeevich Sheviakov, Alexander Egorov, authors of special objects, decorated in the niello and enamel technique, are distinguished. The decorative plates, goblets, office services, various decorative vessels ordered or received by the members of the Romanian Royal House (we mention the visits of the crown princes Ferdinand and Maria, at the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896, the visit of King Charles I in 1898, of Crown Prince Charles , from 1917, in tsarist Russia) enriched the castle's fund of precious metals Peles.
Turkish, Chinese, Indian, Persian workshops have completed the castle's collection of goldsmithing and common metal with pieces adorned with motifs specific to each country. The working technique and motifs that enrich the decoration of the numerous goblets, cups, decorative vases, perfume vessels, tea services, decorative discs from the royal collection are impressive.
In the young Romanian kingdom, the workshops in Bucharest know a special momentum, creating remarkable artistic compositions. No less important are the pieces signed by Josef Resch, Ferdinand Juillard, Alex Grunberg, Theodor Radivon, engraved with inscriptions commemorating important events in the history of the Kingdom of Romania.
Metalworking techniques, such as casting, pressing, hammering, cutting, enamelling, engraving, filigree, cloisonné, niello, chiselling, gilding, sometimes buckling or partial gilding of the pieces, blend harmoniously with floral-vegetable, geometric, architectural, mythological, pastoral, historical scenes, applied motifs or cabochons, giving a touch of elegance to the works attributed to the artists goldsmiths, immortal through their creations. The styles of decorating heritage objects are also among the most diverse, most of them being historical creations from the end of the 19th century, treated in neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque, neo-rococo, Empire style, but we also meet pieces created at the beginning of the 20th century, made in Art-Nouveau style.
The typological, decorative and functional diversity of the pieces, the message they convey, the originality and uniqueness in form and decoration of some of the pieces in the collection, successfully manage to attract the attention and admiration of the visiting public, fond of knowing the history of the Romanian monarchy, but also of metalworking craft.