.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The ewer made with this dish, although not gilded, is in the Schroder Collection, (T. Schroder, The Art of the European Silversmith, Silver from the Schroder Collection, New York, 1983, ill. p. 159 and p. 160. When sold anonymously in these rooms, 22 March 1888, lot 132, it had already been separated from its dish
As Schroder discusses (op. cit., p. 161), it is difficult to say with certainty whether the ewer or basin were made by either Pierre Harache I or by his son, the father dying in 1700, the year this set was made. Both father and son were greatly admired for their work and received many commissions from the nobility and landed gentry. In fact the elder Pierre Harache was the first Huguenot to gain admittance to the Goldsmith's company. At the court held on 21 July 1682, an order of the Lord Mayor and Council of Aldermen of the City of London was read, requiring
'...that the daind Peter Harache shall be admitted in to the Freedom of this City by Redemption into the Company of Goldsmiths' paying to Mr. Chamberlain to the City's use forty-six shillings and eight pence'
At the same time the following certificate was presented:-
'These are to certify all whom it may concern that Peter Harache, lately come from France for to avoid persecution and live quietly, is not only a Protestant, but by his Majesty's bounty is made a free denizen, that he may settle here freely with his family in token whereof we have given him this certificate'
It is interesting to compare this lot with another sideboard dish, with its ewer, made by Samuel Hood, London, 1699, (Christie's London, 22 November 1991, lot 113. Made for Charles Lowndes, half-brother of Robert Lowndes, the original owner of this dish, it illustrates the more typical restrained border found on English work at this time, as opposed to the heavy fluted or gadrooned border more typical of Huguenot silversmiths. The style of the engraving, however, is very similar, though while the present example is engraved with a coat-of-arms the Hood ewer and dish is engraved with a cypher.
As Schroder discusses (op. cit., p. 161), it is difficult to say with certainty whether the ewer or basin were made by either Pierre Harache I or by his son, the father dying in 1700, the year this set was made. Both father and son were greatly admired for their work and received many commissions from the nobility and landed gentry. In fact the elder Pierre Harache was the first Huguenot to gain admittance to the Goldsmith's company. At the court held on 21 July 1682, an order of the Lord Mayor and Council of Aldermen of the City of London was read, requiring
'...that the daind Peter Harache shall be admitted in to the Freedom of this City by Redemption into the Company of Goldsmiths' paying to Mr. Chamberlain to the City's use forty-six shillings and eight pence'
At the same time the following certificate was presented:-
'These are to certify all whom it may concern that Peter Harache, lately come from France for to avoid persecution and live quietly, is not only a Protestant, but by his Majesty's bounty is made a free denizen, that he may settle here freely with his family in token whereof we have given him this certificate'
It is interesting to compare this lot with another sideboard dish, with its ewer, made by Samuel Hood, London, 1699, (Christie's London, 22 November 1991, lot 113. Made for Charles Lowndes, half-brother of Robert Lowndes, the original owner of this dish, it illustrates the more typical restrained border found on English work at this time, as opposed to the heavy fluted or gadrooned border more typical of Huguenot silversmiths. The style of the engraving, however, is very similar, though while the present example is engraved with a coat-of-arms the Hood ewer and dish is engraved with a cypher.