There was a lot of merriment that day in Fixin in the Clos de la Perrière. The whole Jaravel family was reunited to celebrate the nuptials of Jeanne Jaravel with the Sieur Hugues Arvelin, viticulturist in Gevrey-Chambertin. (1)
The Clos de la Perrière is a very old vineyard, not very big where the first grapevines were planted between 1102 and 1142 by the monks of Citeaux and belonged to the Jaravel family for several generations.
In the Bourguignons (2) villages, people were saying that the crop was full of promise. The gathering of the grapes was terminated after a long month.
They were already finished with the pulling and breaking up of the vines. The grounds were cleaned around the old roots and parasites removed. The new roots were now in a vegetative rest and the leaves started to show superb shades of red and gold. All the village was present at the door of the Chapel Saint Vincent. Everyone was happy on this October morning.
The temperature was mild and a light fog was covering the vine stock from the Clos as to protect them from the sun rays, which were very welcomed in the autumn season.
Jeanne was 20 years old and the only daughter of Michel Jaravel and Sylvie Esmolin, viticulturist and owner of the Clos de la Perrière. She had met Hugues Arvelin during the Chandeleur holiday at the home of Charon in Beaune. The preparations for the wedding started in the spring on the 20th of May 1781. Michel Jaravel left in a diligence for Trevoux where Dominique Chantel, silversmith, was waiting for him on the Rue de l'escalier (3).
After a long day, he arrived in Trevoux and entered the door of the store of the Silversmith Chantel to choose a silver cup with handles that he would offer to his daughter on the occasion of her marriage.
His choice was a simple, elegant cup mounted on a molded stand. The two handles of the cup were in the shape of leaves and bonded to the cup by two hearts.
The other cups in the store did not have this distinction so his decision was firm. This cup looked very much like the one stamped by the master silversmith Denis Nesme of Lyon, friend of her father and that his wife Sylvie received for her marriage in 1756.
Michel Jaravel wanted to continue the tradition and was happy to be able to do so.
He asked Dominique Chantel to stamp the name of his daughter and also the year of the wedding. He went with the silversmith to engrave "J ne JARAVEL 1781" on the cup and added a small flower between the first and last name. This was common in that part of the country and the silversmith felt that in a small way, he had participated in the festivities.

Raoul C VERBIST December 23, 2002

Often called "Lady's cup" in the inventory, the cup with two handles called "cup bourguignonne " (2) is called "wedding cup" today.
At the end of the 17th century, it was customary to offer the couple a cup on a low base with two vertical handles mounted with crosses or animal heads, real or fantasy.
The exterior of the cup almost always had the name of the bride and the date of the marriage. After the ceremony in church, the couple would drink from the cup they would keep for the rest of their lives, like a precious trinket. Sometimes it would be used after the birth of a child, with bread soaked in wine for the mother.
The silversmiths from Dijon and Morlaix were specialized in the production of these cups.
Nowadays, the original use of the drinking cup is lost; it is used mostly as a tray to empty your pockets and sometimes as a gift for anniversaries.
This type of cup has lasted from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century with differences in the shape of the handles or the base.
Most of the wedding cups were made in Bourgogne and Bretagne (2) until the middle of the 19th century. The oldest example found goes back to the end of the 17th century.
The model of the cup doesn't change much until the beginning of the 19th century; only the shape of the handles indicate the chronology and origin.
During the years 1680-90, we see handles with pearls. The shape of the handles with a dolphin appears at the beginning of the 18th century and lasts until the end of the Ancient Regime, without notable changes between 1720-1780.
In the year 1780 until the beginning of the 19th century, the handles are decorated with foliage and become unique in Bourgogne (2) during these years.
The two handled cups are generally of very good quality and aesthetically elegant in their simplicity.

translator's notes:
(1) viticulturist is an expert in raising grapevines
(2) Bourguignon is a person from the French province of La Bourgogne and Bretagne. If you deal a lot with antiquities, you need to know the names of the French provinces.
(3) Rue de l'escalier is the name of a street
 

Silversmith :
CHANTEL Dominique
1725-1788
silversmith in Trévoux
(active from 1759 to 1788)
Born in Thurins-sur-Rhône
Authorized by parliament in November 26, 1759 to pratise silversmithing in Trévoux.
He takes his oath in front of the Officiers de la Monnaie of Lyon on September 14, 1785 and engraves a new hallmark.
He died in Trévoux on March 22, 1788, at the age of 63.

hallmarks : DC, a fleur de lys, a crown above (1759), a C with a crown and a fleur de lys below (1786)

Sources : A.D. Côte d'Or (B 1194,6; A.D.), Rhône (6B 325)

Bibliography : Godefroy 1965, p. 334-335 L'Orfèvrerie de Lyon et du Trévoux

Known works :

Tray 1759-1771 (private coll. ; sold December 4, 1989, Paris n°129)
Wedding cup, 1759-1771 (private coll.; Godefroy p.343, n°11)
Cruet set 1759-1771 (private coll.)
Dish 1759-1771 (private coll.; sold December 4, 1989, Paris, n°129)
Wine cup, 1759-1771 (private coll.; A.S.R.I. Rhône-Alpes)
Wine cup, (Musée du Louvre, Godefroy p. 345, n° 20)
Pair of candlesticks, 1759-1771 (n°147)
Four bowls, 1759-1771 (private coll.; Godefroy ibid., n°13)
Wine cup, 1777-1778 (private coll.; A.S.R.I. Rhône-Alpes)
Wine cup, 1787 (Musée du Louvre, Godefroy p. 345, n° 20)
Wine tastevin 1767 (n°183 Coll. du Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-arts de la ville de Paris).

Cup mounted on a molded stand,
The two handles of the cup in the shape of leaves and bonded to the cup by two hearts
Inscription on the cup J(EAN)NE JARAVEL 1781