MAKER'S MARK OF JAMES SHRUDER, LONDON, 1738

James Schruder was perhaps a native of Germany, which is evident in design of some of his work, such as hot-milk jug of 1737, (see V. Brett, op. cit., fig. 896). A. G. Griwmade descibes his work in London Goldmsith's 1697-1837, their Marks and Lives, London, 1982, p. 658, as 'some of the finest rococo plate of the day'. He provided the great silver collector George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (1675-1758) with a number of pieces, most notably a shaving set now in the Al Tajir collection exhibited London, Christie's, The Glory of the Goldsmith, 1989, no. 87. No. 85 in the same exhibiton, a set of four George II candlesticks, of 1743, inspired by the designs of Juste-Aurele Meissonier, illustrate his mastery of the rococo style. His work often demonstrates a sense of mass and a sculptural quality that is not found in the work of other goldsmiths of the period. An imposing soup tureen of 1747 (Christie's London, 23 November 1999, lot 241) which formed the centrepiece of a large commission for Peter Legh of Lyme Cheshire, rests on four goat's mask feet cast in full relief.