ONE WITH MARK OF DIGBY SCOTT AND BENJAMIN SMITH, LONDON, 1804, THE LINER AND COLLAR GEORGE IV, THE SECOND WITH MARK OF BENJAMIN AND JAMES SMITH, LONDON, 1810

Details

Two George III silver-gilt wine-coolers, collars and liners
One with mark of Digby Scott and Benjamin Smith, London, 1804, the liner and collar George IV, the second with mark of Benjamin and James Smith, London, 1810
Each of square tapering form and with canted corners, on four lion's paw feet headed by sphinx heads, each applied with dentilated semi-circular panel chased with stylized foliage on a matted ground, the sides applied with a band of grapevine above elaborate applied drapery cartouches enclosing escutcheons later engraved with a coat-of-arms, with two lion-mask and grapevine pendant ring handles and egg-and-dart rims, with removable dentilated collars and cylindrical liners, the square pedestal bases with canted corners, applied with conforming grapevine on a matted ground, marked on stands, bases, collars, and liners, the collar and liner of the first part-marked with George IV hallmarks circa 1827
11in. (27.9 cm.) high
311oz. (9,681gr.) (2)

Provenance

The Republic of the Philippines through the Presidential Commission on Good Government; Christie's New York, 10 January 1991, lot 56.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Benjamin Smith, the son of Ralph Smith of Birmingham, removed to London sometime before October 4, 1802 when he entered his first mark in partnership with Digby Scott. The firm, located in Limekiln Lane, Greenwich, worked almost exclusively for the Royal Goldsmiths Rundell and Bridge. The partnership with Scott was evidently dissolved in 1807, when Smith entered a mark on his own. In 1809 he entered another mark in partnership with his brother James. As Grimwade remarked, 'There seems little doubt...that Smith was of a difficult and probably irascible nature and this is borne out by the variations of his entries of marks with and without partners' (London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, their Marks and Lives, London, 1990, p. 662).

A pair of similar sauce tureens and stands, of 1808, with the maker's mark of Benjamin Smith, is in the Al-Tajir Collection (see The Glory of the Goldsmith, Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, exhibition cat., Christie's, London, 1990, no. 124).

A pair of identical wine coolers and stands of 1804, maker's mark of Scott & Smith, was sold Christie's, London June 13, 1954, lot 52.

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