Lot Essay
The monogram and coronet is that of Harriet Mellon, Duchess of St. Albans (?1777 - 1837) who following an early career on the stage, married her admirer Thomas Coutts, the banker, in 1815. On his death in 1822 he left her a fortune of #600,000. She married secondly in 1827, William, 9th Duke of St. Albans.
The second monogram is that of Angela Georgina Burdett Coutts (1814-1900), the youngest of five step-grandaughters of the Duchess of St. Albans. On her death in 1837 she made Angela heiress to her vast property and fortune. On succession to the fortune, Miss Burdett assumed the additional surname of Coutts by Royal Licence and added the Coutts arms to those of the Burdett family.
From the outset Miss Burdett-Coutts, as "the richest heiress in all England" (Raikes Journal, IV, p.345) enjoyed a fame through the country second only to Queen Victoria. Although suitors were numerous, including the Duke of Wellington and Prince Louis Napoleon, she declined all advances until later on in life when she married Mr. William Ashmead-Bartlett in 1881. Until then her life had been exclusively devoted to social entertainment and philanthropy although she also spent a large proportion of her income on amassing a great Art collection. In 1871, as a result of her many charitable donations and commitment she was awarded a peerage by Queen Victoria. At that time it was the only instance of a woman being raised to the peerage in recognition of her personal work and public achievement. She was also conferred with the honorary freedom of the cities of London and Edinburgh.
On 30th December, 1906, she died, her body lying in state for 2 days, during which nearly 30,000 people, both rich and poor paid their last respects. She was buried in Wesminster Abbey, 5th January, 1907.
In his article 'The Master of George Vertue', (Apollo, February, 1988), Arthur Grimwade fully discusses the work of the master engraver Blaise Gentot. Although these toilet bowls and ewer have rather restrained engraved bands, the lions either side of the ewer's spout bear some similarity to those on the cover of the comb-box from the Exeter toilet service, by Pierre Harache of 1695, illustrated in the article.
In the case of these pieces, however, the absence of the typical berried foliage might suggest that the artist could be Simon Gribelin, so often confused with Gentot.
Although, unmarked, a Huguenot silversmith was almost certainly responsible for their manufacture, particularly when one considers the two bowls and covers, made very much in the French style. Pierre Harache is a most likely candidate, not only because of similar engraving on his work but also because of similar strapwork found on a wine cistern by Harache in the Barber Surgoens Company, and illustrated in J. F. Hayward, Huguenot Silver in England, 1959, fig.21.
The second monogram is that of Angela Georgina Burdett Coutts (1814-1900), the youngest of five step-grandaughters of the Duchess of St. Albans. On her death in 1837 she made Angela heiress to her vast property and fortune. On succession to the fortune, Miss Burdett assumed the additional surname of Coutts by Royal Licence and added the Coutts arms to those of the Burdett family.
From the outset Miss Burdett-Coutts, as "the richest heiress in all England" (Raikes Journal, IV, p.345) enjoyed a fame through the country second only to Queen Victoria. Although suitors were numerous, including the Duke of Wellington and Prince Louis Napoleon, she declined all advances until later on in life when she married Mr. William Ashmead-Bartlett in 1881. Until then her life had been exclusively devoted to social entertainment and philanthropy although she also spent a large proportion of her income on amassing a great Art collection. In 1871, as a result of her many charitable donations and commitment she was awarded a peerage by Queen Victoria. At that time it was the only instance of a woman being raised to the peerage in recognition of her personal work and public achievement. She was also conferred with the honorary freedom of the cities of London and Edinburgh.
On 30th December, 1906, she died, her body lying in state for 2 days, during which nearly 30,000 people, both rich and poor paid their last respects. She was buried in Wesminster Abbey, 5th January, 1907.
In his article 'The Master of George Vertue', (Apollo, February, 1988), Arthur Grimwade fully discusses the work of the master engraver Blaise Gentot. Although these toilet bowls and ewer have rather restrained engraved bands, the lions either side of the ewer's spout bear some similarity to those on the cover of the comb-box from the Exeter toilet service, by Pierre Harache of 1695, illustrated in the article.
In the case of these pieces, however, the absence of the typical berried foliage might suggest that the artist could be Simon Gribelin, so often confused with Gentot.
Although, unmarked, a Huguenot silversmith was almost certainly responsible for their manufacture, particularly when one considers the two bowls and covers, made very much in the French style. Pierre Harache is a most likely candidate, not only because of similar engraving on his work but also because of similar strapwork found on a wine cistern by Harache in the Barber Surgoens Company, and illustrated in J. F. Hayward, Huguenot Silver in England, 1959, fig.21.