The Walpole Salver: ‘Hogarthian’ Style

We are celebrating the craftsmanship of William Hogarth born on this day in 1697 (10th November).  Hogarth was born to Richard Hogarth, a schoolmaster and Anne Gibbons who came from a working class background. At the age of 14 in 1714 Hogarth was apprenticed to Ellis Gamble in Leicester Fields as an engraver.

William Hogarth, Ellis Gamble’s Shop Card, Engraving, 1723-1733. Courtesy of The British Museum.

Ellis Gamble was a gold and silversmith who was in partnership with silversmith Paul de Lamerie from 1723-28. Hogarth started by mainly engraving trade cards, however he never finished his apprenticeship but continued to experiment with engraving as an independent engraver for copper plates.

 

William Hogarth’s engraved trade card, produced to advertise the printmaking business which the young artist set up in 1720 after leaving his apprenticeship with Ellis Gamble. Courtesy of The Royal Collection.

He experimented with designs and his early commissions included works for book illustrations, single prints and cards. Paul de Lamerie was one of the greatest silversmiths working in England in the 18^th century. The son of Hugenot parents he came to London as a small child fleeing prosecution in France. Around 1720 de Lamerie started working with Hogarth whom he met whilst he was working under Ellis Gamble. The ‘Hogarthian’ style of engraving had a huge impact on the pieces designed and made by, not just de Lamerie, but most other silversmiths from this period. Exceptional engraving such as Hogarth’s added another dimension of craftsmanship to a silversmith’s work helping to create pieces of the highest quality and design.

Paul de Lamerie (Hertogenbosch 1688 – London 1751), A George II Silver Second-Course Dish, Silver, London, 1725

In 1720 Hogarth enrolled at the John Vanderbank Art Academy and was taught painting by James Thornhill from around 1726. Hogarth is best known for his series of paintings depicting satirical modern moral subjects. Hogarth sold engravings of popular scenes on subscription. Most famously series such as Marriage-A-la-Mode, The Harlot’s Progress (1731) and The Rake’s Progress. Harlot’s Progress was about the life of a prostitute and was very different to anything else that had been produced up until this date. Rake’s Progress shows the decline of a young man into a life of drinking and immoral behaviour.

William Hogarth , Marriage A-la Mode: 1. The Marriage Settlement, 1745 
Oil on canvas 

This tea caddy was engraved with the coats of arms by Hogarth, after a design by Ellis Gamble. The same coats of arms appears on a silver-gilt spoon tray by de Lamerie which suggests that this caddy was a part of a larger tea service.

Tea Caddy by Paul de Lamerie, engraved by William Hogarth & designed by Ellis Gamble. Courtesy of The Victoria & Albert Museum.

Walpole Salver

The Walpole Salver, held in the collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum is the most famous piece of silver known to be engraved by William Hogarth. The salver was made by Paul de Lamerie between 1728 and 1729. It is a square salver on square feet with a cast and applied rim. Not only is it magnificently engraved with an intricate design it is one of Paul de Lamerie’s best known pieces of silversmithing.

Salver by Paul de Lamerie, engraved by William Hogarth. Courtesy of The Victoria & Albert Museum.

The salver was commissioned by Sir Robert Walpole to commemorate his terms as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The seal roundels are supported by a figure of Hercules flanked by allegorical figures representing calumny and envy. The salver shows a view of the City of London in the background. Elaborate strapwork decorates the border which runs between masks representing the four seasons and four cartouches located in the corners. The cartouches encompass the double cipher ‘RW’, the arms of Walpole quatering those of his wife Catherine Shorter and the Walpole crest of a Saracen’s head.

Impression from a silver tankard, Lithography by E. Chavanes after William Hogarth, 1833. Courtesy of Orbis Antique Prints.

Our gallery is located at Koopman Rare Art, The London Silver Vaults, 53/64 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1QS, please feel free to visit or take a look at our stock on our website www.koopman.art

For all enquiries please do not hesitate to call or email on:

020 7242 7624 / info@koopmanrareart.com

Giltly Pleasure: Sumptuous Silver-Gilt

Joseph Preedy, An Important Pair of Royal George III Wine Coolers, Silver-gilt, London, 1801. Available to Purchase at Koopman Rare Art.

Man has long been fascinated with the glitter of gold but its high cost and great softness rendered it impractical for many purposes. Demand for gold drove silversmiths to devise methods of applying gold to silver in order to finish objects with a luxurious radiance. Silver dipped or plated in gold is called silver gilt or vermeil in French.

Elkington & Co., A Fabulous Pair of 19th Century Candelabra, Silver-Gilt, Birmingham, 1889. Available to Purchase from Koopman Rare Art.

The process of gilding has developed through the ages and differed across the globe. In pre-Columbian South America Incas used depletion gilding by producing a layer of nearly pure gold on an object of gold alloy by the removal of other metals from its surface. Another popular ancient process, mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, was the method of overlaying or folding of gold leaf. Fire gilding with mercury was another process, which involved applying an amalgam of gold and mercury to the silver surface. The heat caused a strong bond between the gold and silver. This process was commonly used from the sixth century BC until quite recently. Electroplating has now taken over from this process using electrolysis to coat the surface with gold.

William Burwash, The Talbot Wine Coasters, Silver-Gilt, London, 1817. Available to Purchase at Koopman Rare Art.

The process of gilding, however was costly. While in 1664 Samuel Pepys complained that the cost of ‘fashion’ or the making of a piece, had risen to the same level as the raw material itself (both were 5 shillings an ounce) gilding the finished article could cost an additional 3 shillings an ounce. Gilding added approximately 25 percent to the total cost; this was considerably more than commissioning an object in silver yet still less than one in gold. By the Middle Ages European gold was worth ten to twelve times more than silver but by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the price ratio had risen to fifteen to one. Even so achieving the golden look through gilding became ever more popular.

Luke Clennell (1781–1840), The Banquet Given by the Corporation to the Prince Regent, the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, 18 June 1814 (The Allied Sovereigns’ Banquet). Displayed at The Guildhall Art Gallery, Courtesy of the City of London Corporation.

Silver gilt objects were often used as status symbols as exemplified by this painting of the guildhall banquet by Luke Clennell held in 1814 for the prince regent the Tsar of Russia and the King of Prussia. One dinner service is in silver gilt the other quite intentionally in silver – superior guests presented with silver gilt and the less important with silver!

Another important service is The Grand Service held in the Royal Collection. This magnificent silver-gilt dining service was commissioned by George IV. It is made up of over 4000 pieces for dining and display made by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell costing £60,000. The Grand Service is used today for all state banquets. Watch the video below taken from within Buckingham Palace showing the ballroom being prepared for a state banquet with the beautiful and elaborate silver-gilt Grand Service.

Some of the most famous silver-gilt services throughout history belonged to General Count Francois Xavier Branicki, Count Nikolai Demidoff and the Borghese service. At Koopman Rare Art pieces from these three collections have passed through the doors and are most certainly some of the most impressive pieces of antique silver. The popularity for silver-gilt soar on both sides of the channel and important silversmiths such as Maison Odiot, Martin Guillaume Biennais, Benjamin Smith and Paul Storr were leading the way.

On a more practical note silver-gilt tarnishes at a slower rate, it is lighter in weight than pure gold and much more durable. Sometimes for this reason the inside of silver pieces would be lined with gold a design called parcel-gilt like these salts by Philip Rundell to help preserve the inside from acid corrosion and tarnishing.

Philip Rundell (1746 – 1827), A Set of Four George III Silver Salts, London, 1819. Available to Purchase from Koopman Rare Art. 

Take a look at our collection of silver-gilt on our website to see the range of pieces we have for sale. 

All of these works are available to view in our gallery located at Koopman Rare Art, The London Silver Vaults, 53/64 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1QS or on our website www.koopman.art

For all enquiries please do not hesitate to call or email on:

020 7242 7624 / info@koopmanrareart.com

 

The Warwick Vase: Hamilton’s Dig for Treasure

 

Archibald Skirving, Portrait of
Gavin Hamilton (1723 – 1798), Pastel on paper, circa. 1788. Courtesy of National Galleries of Scotland.

In 1771, Scottish artist Gavin Hamilton made a fascinating discovery at the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa, near Tivoli. Fancying himself as an antiquarian come art dealer based in Rome he carried out numerous archaeological digs. He discovered fragments of an ancient Roman marble vase with Bacchic ornament. The vase now stands, restored, in the Burrell Collection near Glasgow, Scotland.

David Allan (1744–1796), Sir William and the first Lady Hamilton in their villa in Naples, Oil on canvas, Oil on copper. Courtesy of Compton Verney Collection.

Hamilton sold the fragments to Sir William Hamilton, who was British envoy to the court of Naples.  The vase was restored by Sir William Hamilton and it later passed into the collection of Hamilton’s nephew George Greville, 2^nd Earl of Warwick. Sir William Hamilton tried to persuade the British Museum, which had purchased his collection of Etruscan vases, to purchase the vase but to no avail. He stated “ Keep it I cannot, as I shall never have a house big enough for it”.

The Warwick Vase, housed in the Burrell Collection

The first record of the vase standing in the courtyard of Warwick Castle was in 1778. In 1784, local mason William Eborall designed and built for the Earl a greenhouse at Warwick Castle. The Earl later wrote ‘I built a noble green house, and filled it with beautiful plants, I placed in it a vase, considered as the finest remains of Grecian art extant, for its size and beauty’, despite the fragments believed to be Roman.

The vase remained at Warwick Castle until 1969 when the ownership of the Castle and its contents passed to the 7^th earl David Lord Brooke. Brooke organised a sale of the works of art held in the castle. The Vase was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art but export was luckily denied. Matching funds were raised and not considered important enough for the British Museum the vase was sent to the Burrell Collection in Glasgow.

The Warwick Vase became iconic and greatly influencial in early 19th century design. Two bronze models were made of The Warwick Vase by Rundell. One was sold by Rundell’s to George IV who had it placed at Windsor. The other was bought by Duke of Northumberland who had just been appointed Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to present it to the university. It is now displayed in the middle of the lawn before Gibbs’ Senate House. Porcelain versions were being made by Rockingham and Worcester. A stunning example of which is held in the Royal Collection. This classical design became a part of the British visual repertory, even becoming the model for the silver-gilt tennis trophy, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup won at the Australian Open.

The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup click here to watch the cup being made 

The form was also manipulated for tea services and saltcellars.

John Edward Terrey, A George IV Four-Piece Tea And Coffee Service. For sale at Koopman Rare Art,

This tea service was modeled in the style of the Warwick Vase. The large looping handles and cylindrical form create a grand and impressive tea service. Available at Koopman it is a silver George IV tea and coffee service, engraved with the coat-of arms for Maynard impaling another.  The pots are decorated with fruit finials and ivory insulators in the handles, the spouts formed as tritons sounding conch-shell horns, the whole set richly decorated with acanthus leaf ornament.

Paul Storr (Westminster 1771 – Tooting 1844), An Impressive Regency Warwick Vase on Silver Stand. For sale at Koopman Rare Art.

Here is a a majestic and beautiful example of a Warwick vase by Paul Storr. The Cowper Warwick Vase was presented to Captain William Cowper (1774-1825) who was a military engineer. He succeeded in building two dry docks in the port of Bombay despite numerous difficulties, including a lack of skilled workmen and problems with hard rock and tides.

Another exceptional Warwick Vase available at Koopman Rare Art is this silver-gilt vase by Paul Storr.

Paul Storr (Westminster 1771 – Tooting 1844) An Exceptional Warwick Vase on Stand with Caribbean Interest. For sale at Koopman Rare Art.

The Warwick Vase was presented to James Anthill, Chief Justice of Antigua by the legislature of the island. The vase is mentioned in his will of 1822:

‘….my books, and the silver-gilt vase given me by the Legislature of the Island, and if he die before me I give the 1786 May 25 Samuel Harman to Mary Athill, sp^ L. 1788 Sept. 25 ‘

The vase bears the crest of Anthill and the base is inscribed with his coat of arms and the presentation inscription, describing Anthill as ‘Honorable’. The vase was given ‘to commemorate their exalted Sense of the Ardour of his Patriotism, The Splendour of his Talents and The Integrety of his Life.’

Some of these works are available to view in our gallery located at Koopman Rare Art, The London Silver Vaults, 53/64 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1QS or on our website www.koopman.art

For all enquiries please do not hesitate to call or email on:

020 7242 7624 / info@koopmanrareart.com

New Arrival at Koopman: A Pair of Monumental Silver-Gilt Sideboard Dishes by Paul Storr

A Monumental Pair of George III Silver-Gilt Sideboard Dishes, 1813

We are extremely excited to announce the return of two highly important objects to Koopman Rare Art. A pair of George III Silver-Gilt sideboard dishes by Paul Storr for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell after the design by Thomas Stothard. This pair of sideboard dishes are historically important both for their mastery of craftsmanship and reputable provenance. 

Koopman Rare Art initially purchased the dishes from auction in 1984 at Sotheby’s, London (3^rd May, ex-lot 105). The dishes at this date then entered the prestigious collection of His Excellency Mohammed Mahdi Al Tajir, before returning to Koopman this July, 2017. 

Provenance

The dishes were first owned by William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley of Wanstead House in Essex. A notorious scoundrel, gambler and fortune-seeker, he won the hand of Catherine Tylney-Long, the richest woman in England outside of royalty, with an income of £80,000 a year. The pair were married in 1812 and moved to Wanstead House in Essex. An extravagant entertainer Long-Wellesley held a grand fete in 1814 to celebrate the Duke of Wellington’s victory over Napoleon. It is likely that this pair of dishes were purchased specifically for this occasion. 

In 1822, problems hit.  Long-Wellesley was forced to mortgage Wanstead House in order to secure a debt of £250,000 and its contents to the creditors. The trustees of the settlement auctioned off the houses’ contents in an auction which lasted 32 days. 

 

Paul Storr, Sideboard Dish, Hallmarked 1814/15, Silver-gilt. Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016

Rundell, Bridge & Rundell bought the dishes for Hugh Percy (1785-1847), 3rd Duke of Northumberland, whose arms were engraved on the reverse. The dishes stayed with the Percy family, until the Sotheby’s sale in 1984. Thirty-three years later and the monumental dishes are back with Koopman Rare Art. 

This is the only pair from the series of ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ sideboard dishes created by the workshop of Paul Storr for the Royal Goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. Two other single examples are known today. One created in 1814 was purchased by the Prince Regent, future King George IV, and is now held in the Royal Collection. Another example, which was part of the Audrey Love Collection was created in 1817. This later charger bears the arms of the 2^nd Earl of Ailesbury.

Detail of A Monumental & Highly Important Pair of George III Sideboard Dishes, Paul Storr (Westminster 1771 – Tooting 1844) after a design by Thomas Stothard (1755-1834)

 

The centre of each dish is cast in bold relief with a group of Bacchus and Ariadne. Cherubs fly around their shoulders as they are drawn forward in an ornamental chariot by four centaurs who are wielding a thyrsus or playing a double-pie, a lyre and a tambourine. The dishes are further decorated with an applied ribbon-tied laurel wreath below a vine and trellis border. The border is strewn with cymbals and other antique musical instruments. The reverse of each dish is engraved with a coat-of-arms, supporters and motto below a duke’s coronet. They are both sorted in their original case with the brass plate engraved, ‘The Duke of Northumberland’. 

 

 A Monumental & Highly Important Pair of George III Sideboard Dishes, Paul Storr (Westminster 1771 – Tooting 1844) after a design by Thomas Stothard (1755-1834)

 

Goldsmiths: Rundell, Bridge & Rundell

‘Massiveness … the principal characteristic of good plate’
Charles Heathcote Tatham (1772-1842) Architect and Designer, 1806

The Royal goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell , were the largest and most successful supplier of plate, diamonds, pearls and jewellery of the period and drove the fashion for monumental silverware drawing on classical motifs from Greek and Roman architecture.  To some extent, the success of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell boiled down to the sheer amount of expertise and creativity they had working with them. Rundell’s employed a number of talented artists to supply designs. John Flaxman (1755-1826) was particularly important. Flaxman was a sculptor whose most important work, arguably, is the silver-gilt Shield of Achilles created in 1821, now held in the Royal Collection. 

Thomas Stothard (1755-1834) who designed the mythological scene for the dishes was another important member of the firm’s artistic circle. Stothard’s design for this pair of sideboard dishes was inspired by an antique Roman cameo discovered in the Via Aurelia in 1661, now in the Louvre having being seized by Napoleon in 1798.

Stothard was a painter, illustrator and engraver. He first entered the Royal Academy in 1778, where he gained full academician in 1794. Stothard admired the work of Rubens and this influence is evident in his small oil paintings. However, his strength was in illustration. His most important works included illustrations for The Pilgrim’s Progress in 1788 and Robinson Crusoe. His most famous painting is now held in the Tate Britain, The Pilgrimage to Canterbury painted between 1806-7. 

Thomas Stothard, The Pilgrimage to Canterbury, 1806-7, Oil on panel. Courtesy of the Tate Britain

These works are available to view in our gallery located at Koopman Rare Art, The London Silver Vaults, 53/64 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1QS or on our website www.koopman.art

For all enquiries please do not hesitate to call or email on:

0207 242 7624 / info@koopmanrareart.com