Antique French Napoleon III Blackamoor Cave á Liqueur, Caddy, Service, Barrell and Nubian Vendor, Cups

It’s rare to find one of these mid-Victorian (Napoleon III 1850-70s) French liqueur sets, particularly in such fine condition and complete with all the old glassware. We’ve had a number of them over the decades, camels, elephants, lions, bulls, but the rarest of all and most sought after are the blackamoors. This is not a slave trade representation. The French banned slavery in 1784. The Napoleonic Empire’s reach, however, elevated the national interest in anything exotic and these arise from that era. This represents a vendor, his barrel on his back and carrying trays of cups. Raised white enamel on the glassware, this one has its barrel and all 8 of the original handled cups, which is amazing. Even the original stopper is intact in its place (almost never found with stoppers). The spigot is different than these old sets, and I’m positive it is a replacement. I’m also sure we have some parted-out spigots in our stash at the warehouse and it’s likely we can replace that replacement with an old original one but I won’t promise. 

Very good to excellent condition, as noted above. Complete and really no losses to cup handles or the barrel, stopper. His thumbs are there and the trays are also excellent. These castings are in a white metal something like pewter, and do suffer breaks, so more often than not the figure is missing thumbs or fingers or even an arm or leg. So pleased to bring you this superb one.  He’s not extra large. They did come in various sizes and poses. This one is 9 3/4″ tall overall, with a 4″ diameter weighted base. SO charming! He won’t last with us very long. They never do – rare as they are.