A PAIR OF GEORGE II SILVER TEA CADDIES

Details

A PAIR OF GEORGE II SILVER TEA CADDIES
MAKER'S MARK OF ELIZA GODFREY, LONDON, 1751

Of bombé form and on four scroll feet, the sides cast and chased with Chinoiserie scenes of musicians, fishermen and travelers, the detachable sliding covers with dove and foliage finals, engraved with a coat-of-arms within a pagoda, sunburst and foliage cartouche, marked on bases, the covers unmarked
5¼in. (13.2cm.) high
28ozs. (886grs.)

The arms are those of Salter impaling Meade (2)

Exhibited

London, Court of St. James's, Old Silver Work, chiefly English, from the XVth to the XVIIIth Centuries, 1902, S8, The property of A. Wertheimer

Lot Essay

The serpentined or sarcophagus form of the caddies, with trefoil feet and ogival domed covers, surmounted by a bird, is conceived in the George II French picturesque manner, while the richly cast and chased ornament recalls the Chinese manner of the French artist Jean Pillement (d.1808), who established himself as a designer in London in 1750. Pillement was the author of engravings related to the decoration of the caddies, such as Receuil des Fontaines Chinoises, Recueil de Plusiers jeux d'Enfant Chinois and Cahier d'Oiseaux Chinois. These were published by Robert Sayer in his New Book of Chinese Ornaments, London, 1755.

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