GIUSEPPE GIOVARA ^©

Italian silver inkwell with dedication to Alessandro Riberi, Turin, first half of the 19th century

Height x width x depth: 19.5 x 30 x 19 cm. Weight: 2318 g.

Rectangular in shape, the base is richly decorated with leafy scroll motifs and features four winged putti at the corners.
On the upper part are two circular containers intended for ink and two longitudinal containers for pens.
At the center stands a male bust on a square plinth base, decorated on one side with the Rod of Asclepius—an ancient Greek symbol associated with medicine—and on the other with the following Latin inscription:

EQ ALEXANDRO RIBERI CL V – IN PATRIO ATHENAEO PP – CVIVS OPERA A LETHALI MORBO – AD PRISTINAM CORPORIS INTEGRITATEM – INSPERATO EST RESTITVTVS – CAR BERAVDUS PRALORMI COMES – BENEFICIT MEMOR.

Carlo Beraudo di Pralormo (1784–1855) was a prominent Piedmontese diplomat. He began his career in Berlin after the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, and was later active in Paris, Munich, The Hague, and Vienna, where he represented the Kingdom of Sardinia for over a decade. He took part in the Congress of Verona in 1822. In 1834, he was appointed Minister of Finance and then Minister of the Interior under King Charles Albert, stepping down in 1841. He returned to politics in 1848 with the promulgation of the Statuto Albertino, became a senator, and negotiated peace with Austria after the defeat at Novara (1849). He also served as ambassador to Paris. In recognition of his service, he was awarded the Collar of the Annunziata and named Minister of State.

Alessandro Riberi was born in Stroppo (Cuneo) in 1794. Orphaned of his mother at a young age, he was raised by his grandmother and educated alongside his older brother. He enrolled in the medical-surgical school of the University of Turin in 1810, where he distinguished himself in anatomy and dissection. He earned a degree in surgery in 1815 and later, in 1817, also a degree in medicine from the University of Genoa, advocating for the reunification of the fields of medicine and surgery. He began his academic and hospital career as an assistant and anatomical dissector at the San Giovanni Hospital in Turin. In 1820, he published his first scientific treatise. Although not directly involved in the 1821 uprisings, he helped several individuals flee to France, an act that cost him favor in academic circles but did not hinder his professional advancement."

Hallmarked with the mark used for large standard (950/1000) silver work in use in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, from 1824 to 1861 and with the hallmark of silversmith Giuseppe Giovara.

Literature:
(cf. A. Bargoni, Mastri orafi e argentieri in Piemonte dal XVII al XIX secolo, Turin, 1976, table XII and p. 15 ff.).
The silversmith's mark, although difficult to read, would seem to correspond to that of Giuseppe Giovara, whose mark depicts a horizontal ellipse enclosing the initials G and G interspersed with a harp. The outline of the remaining mark, with the two letters G separated by a triangular figure, is in fact similar to that of the mark reproduced by Bargoni as the mark deposited by Giovara in 1824 (cf. Idem, cit. fig. G 105, p. 139).