Australian Silver Emu Egg Urns with Aboriginal Figures

Christian Ludwig Quist, a stunning pair of Australian silver mounted emu egg urns adorned with Aboriginal figures seated in strikingly natural poses with weapons and tools, kangaroos and an emu. A tour-de-force of Colonial silversmithing, Museum quality. Stamped 'C.L. Quist, Sydney', 27 cm high. Provenance: The Edward Clark collection, Melbourne. Qvist (also Qwist or Quist) was born in Denmark in 1818, and attracted by the discovery of gold, arrived in Australia in the early 1850s. From 1854 to 1860 he was working at Sandhurst (Bendigo) as a photographer, with successive partners. As early as 1856 he was working as a gold and silversmith as well as carrying on his photographic activities. By 1861 he was in Sydney and apparently worked in association with Hogarth and Ericksen. In 1864 Quist established his own workshop at 15 Hunter Street, subsequently moving to 11 Hunter Street which he occupied until 1874. His work in silver and gold is among the finest seen in Australia in the 19th century. His four surviving gold Sydney cups exhibit great technical skill and taste. He died in 1877, aged 59. (Houstone, 'Early Australian silver, p.125).