24A HIGHLY IMPORTANT GEORGE II SILVER TWO-HANDLED CUP AND COVER

Details

24A HIGHLY IMPORTANT GEORGE II SILVER TWO-HANDLED CUP AND COVER
MAKER'S MARK OF PAUL DE LAMERIE, LONDON, 1732

Vase form, on circular spreading base applied with shells and coupled hounds at intervals, the part-matted body applied with male and female terms representing the four seasons joined by garlands, the scroll handles surmounted by reclining putti, and terminating in grotesque masques, the removable cover applied with a lion, dolphin, dragon and phoenix representing the four elements and garlands between on a matted ground surmounted by a shaped square finial with rams' masks, the upper body engraved with a coat-of-arms with drapery mantling, the interior cover engraved the bequest of a dear Friend Mrs. Sameul (sic) Strode May 1804 to Jam.s Cranbowne Strode, marked on cover and base
12¾in. (32.4cm.); 98oz. 10dwt. (3071gr.)

Provenance

Mrs. Samuel Strode
Bequeathed by her in 1804 to The Revd. James Cranbourne Strode
Elizabeth Maria Syrode, his daughter, who in 1810 m. Robert Shafto Adair (1786-1869)
by descent to
Major-General Sir Allan Adair, Christie's, London, June 15, 1966, lot 160
S.J. Shrubsole Ltd, acquired by Sydney R. Newman in July, 1966

Literature

Susan Hare, ed., Paul de Lamerie: The Work of England's Master Silvermsith, The Goldsmiths' Company, London, 1990, illustrated fig. 3, pp. 17-18.
Arthur Grimwade, Rococo Silver, 1974, illustrated fig. 5, p. 35
Michael Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, Antique Collectors' Club, 1971, illustrated fig. 210, p. 143
Connoisseur, August 1966
Christie's Bi-centenary Review of the Year, 1966, pp. 106-7

Lot Essay

The arms are those of Strode impaling Caulfield

This highly important cup represents the last phase of the influence of the baroque in English silver. Its monumentality and dynamic surfaces are tempered, however, with the first stirrings of movement that presage the rococo style. Elements of the rococo were already well-established in Paris by 1732, but fluidity of the handles on this cup, and the elaborate naturalism of the applied decoration, were new elements in London-made silver of the period. The iconography, too, with its emphasis on the seasons and the elements combined with sensuousness and naturalism, can be seen as a departure from the rigid classical symbolism of the late 17th century. One of the features of the rococo was its ability to mix classical imagery with naturalism, reminiscent of Arcadia, and in England this mélange was often augmented with auricular motifs based on the printed designs of the van Vianen family from the middle of the 17th century. With the combination of sall of these features, this cup may be regarded as the earliest example of the first phase of the rococo in English silver.
detail: "earth" detail: "air"