Details
No Description
Provenance
S.E. Kennedy Esq, 1901
Crichton Brothers, before 1935
Duveen Brothers, 1950
Mrs Fay Plohn, sold Sotheby's, 16th July, 1970, lot 88 (#27,000)
Crichton Brothers, before 1935
Duveen Brothers, 1950
Mrs Fay Plohn, sold Sotheby's, 16th July, 1970, lot 88 (#27,000)
Literature
P.A.S. Phillips, Paul de Lamerie, His Life and Work, 1935, p.98 and illustrated pl.CIV
Los Angeles County Museum Bulletin, vol.3, no.3, 1950, illustrated on the front cover
Art at Auction, 1969/1970, ill.p.363
Vanessa Brett, The Sotheby's Directory of Silver, 1988, p.174, no.710
Paul de Lamerie, At the Sign of the Golden Ball, 1990
Los Angeles County Museum Bulletin, vol.3, no.3, 1950, illustrated on the front cover
Art at Auction, 1969/1970, ill.p.363
Vanessa Brett, The Sotheby's Directory of Silver, 1988, p.174, no.710
Paul de Lamerie, At the Sign of the Golden Ball, 1990
Exhibited
London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, An Exhibition of Silversmiths Work, 1901, no.K11
Los Angeles County Museum, Three Centuries of English Silver, Autumn 1950, no.106
Los Angeles County Museum, Three Centuries of English Silver, Autumn 1950, no.106
Further details
"An example showing exceptional originality and versatility in its design and superb quality in its execution ..... a truly magnificent piece worthy of comparison with masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance". The Maynard dish has thus been described by P.A.S. Phillips in his monumental work on the life and work of Paul de Lamerie. Certainly, elements of Lamerie's Rococo silver, such as the asymmetrical cartouche, can be traced back to seventeenth century Italy, but his more immediate Rococo ancestry originated in the reign of Louis XV, with the French penchant for 'rocaille', the elaborate rock-work grotto designs of landscape architecture, accompanied by an enthusism for marine motifs such as shells, dolphins, mermaids and waterfalls. Described as sensuous, informal, light-hearted and graceful, the essential element being movement, Rococo was a welcome relief following the restraint of the early 18th century, and was assimilated with alacrity by London's Huguenot silversmiths.
The ewer and basin became the most essential elements of the banqueting hall since Mediaeval times, so that the assembled company could wash their hands with scented water between courses and at the end of the meal. With the introduction of the fork in the 17th century, the ewer and basin became less functional and eventually moved to the sideboard as permanent and purely decorative ornaments to display the wealth and taste of the owner.
The Maynard dish was possibly the first major object where Lamerie employed the modeller and chaser who were to play such an important role in his Rococo commissions for the next few years, representing the beginning of Lamerie's mature Rococo style, and introducing his great series of ewers and dishes. Typically, the various elements of his unique style of decoration are in harmony with the form of this dish. His assymetrical ornament combines with arcadian naturalism. The central cartouche is framed by Grecian 'pelta' shields festooned with fruiting garlands and accompanied by cartouches emblematic of the seasons. Cupid, the God of Love, supports the antique acanthus-scroll cartouche, bearing a palm-wreathed escutcheon and indicates the armorials of the Maynard Family. It is displayed within a triumphal arch, whose putti 'herm' supports are scrolled in the 'natural' manner and garlanded with flowers. Water pours from the stem of the imbricated cartouche, which rises from the scallop-shell, emblematic of Venus, the Nature Goddess, and rests against a bracket-supported plinth. The border of the dish is enriched with imbricated peltas whose reeded and arched crests are flanked by Jove's eagle heads. These are festooned with garlands of vines and corn-clusters that are held by scrolled clasps, embellished with scallop-shelled masks of water-gods. The imbricated and scrolled brackets that overlap the dish's rim support cloud-born putti at the top and sides. The former holds Jove's lightning bolt, emblematic of fire, while his companions hold fruits of the earth, or embraces airy clouds.
The decoration, with putti sporting on strapwork scaffolding, is in a lighter version of the Baroque Grotesque of Jean Berain (d.1711) and largely derives from engravings published by the French ornamentalist and carver Jean Baptiste Honoré Toro (1672-1731). For instance a putti-supported palm-wreathed escutcheon bearing a coat-of-arms, which appears in one of his engraved Cartouches, which were later published by Charles O. Cochin under the title, Cartouches recently invented by J.B.H. Toro. An arch-crested pelta framing a love trophy, appeared in his Dessins Arabesques à Plusieurs Usages, which was re-issued by John Pine as A New Book of Ornaments proper for Jewellers, Painters, Gravers, Carvers etc., which appeared in the early years of King George II's reign.
In the recent exhibition, Paul de Lamerie; At the Sign of the Golden Ball, Goldsmith's Hall, 16th May to 22nd June, 1990, this highly important dish is illustrated in the catalogue, p.22, fig.9. In the chapter on 'Paul de Lamerie's Rococo' in the exhibition catalogue, Michael Snodin refers to it at length, concluding that 'perhaps the most remarkable feature of the dish is its figurative ornament, here representing the elements, the earliest example of what became a leading characterisitic of Lamerie's Rococo. While the putti and clouds can be related to those of the Blenheim wine coolers, Lamerie's versions are daringly free-floating'. Many of these elements can also be found on the coffee jug, of 1738, no. 85 in the same exhibtion catalogue, with putti chased in high relief against a landscape, and where form again harmonises with the various elements of decoration. On the magnificent ewer and dish commissioned by the Goldsmith's Company in 1741 (catalogue no. 91), Lamerie repeats his successful design of the broken border and the Four Elements, begun on the Maynard dish. These elements are continued on the fine dish made for Stephen Fox, 1st Earl of Ilchester, in about 1740 (catalogue no. 93), (fig. i). Although unmarked, this set has been attributed to de Lamerie's workshop on grounds of style relating particularly to the Maynard dish and has been described as the very best example of Rococo design. This richly designed series is brought to a brilliant climax in the ewer and dish made in 1742 for Algernon Coote, 6th Earl of Mountrath (catalogue no. 92).
Paul de Lamerie, born on 9th April 1668, became apprentice to Pierre Platel in 1703. His seven year term ended in 1711 and he obtained his freedom by service of the Goldsmiths' Company two years later. Evidence of his skill as a goldsmith and his business acumen soon became apparent and by 1717 he was already referred to as "the King's silversmith". During his career, which ended with his death in 1751 he had become the most accomplished goldsmith working in London and is particularly remembered for his highly imaginative interpretation of the new Rococo style. The Maynard dish is arguably the epitome of this style and it is without question a landmark in the history of English silver.
The ewer and basin became the most essential elements of the banqueting hall since Mediaeval times, so that the assembled company could wash their hands with scented water between courses and at the end of the meal. With the introduction of the fork in the 17th century, the ewer and basin became less functional and eventually moved to the sideboard as permanent and purely decorative ornaments to display the wealth and taste of the owner.
The Maynard dish was possibly the first major object where Lamerie employed the modeller and chaser who were to play such an important role in his Rococo commissions for the next few years, representing the beginning of Lamerie's mature Rococo style, and introducing his great series of ewers and dishes. Typically, the various elements of his unique style of decoration are in harmony with the form of this dish. His assymetrical ornament combines with arcadian naturalism. The central cartouche is framed by Grecian 'pelta' shields festooned with fruiting garlands and accompanied by cartouches emblematic of the seasons. Cupid, the God of Love, supports the antique acanthus-scroll cartouche, bearing a palm-wreathed escutcheon and indicates the armorials of the Maynard Family. It is displayed within a triumphal arch, whose putti 'herm' supports are scrolled in the 'natural' manner and garlanded with flowers. Water pours from the stem of the imbricated cartouche, which rises from the scallop-shell, emblematic of Venus, the Nature Goddess, and rests against a bracket-supported plinth. The border of the dish is enriched with imbricated peltas whose reeded and arched crests are flanked by Jove's eagle heads. These are festooned with garlands of vines and corn-clusters that are held by scrolled clasps, embellished with scallop-shelled masks of water-gods. The imbricated and scrolled brackets that overlap the dish's rim support cloud-born putti at the top and sides. The former holds Jove's lightning bolt, emblematic of fire, while his companions hold fruits of the earth, or embraces airy clouds.
The decoration, with putti sporting on strapwork scaffolding, is in a lighter version of the Baroque Grotesque of Jean Berain (d.1711) and largely derives from engravings published by the French ornamentalist and carver Jean Baptiste Honoré Toro (1672-1731). For instance a putti-supported palm-wreathed escutcheon bearing a coat-of-arms, which appears in one of his engraved Cartouches, which were later published by Charles O. Cochin under the title, Cartouches recently invented by J.B.H. Toro. An arch-crested pelta framing a love trophy, appeared in his Dessins Arabesques à Plusieurs Usages, which was re-issued by John Pine as A New Book of Ornaments proper for Jewellers, Painters, Gravers, Carvers etc., which appeared in the early years of King George II's reign.
In the recent exhibition, Paul de Lamerie; At the Sign of the Golden Ball, Goldsmith's Hall, 16th May to 22nd June, 1990, this highly important dish is illustrated in the catalogue, p.22, fig.9. In the chapter on 'Paul de Lamerie's Rococo' in the exhibition catalogue, Michael Snodin refers to it at length, concluding that 'perhaps the most remarkable feature of the dish is its figurative ornament, here representing the elements, the earliest example of what became a leading characterisitic of Lamerie's Rococo. While the putti and clouds can be related to those of the Blenheim wine coolers, Lamerie's versions are daringly free-floating'. Many of these elements can also be found on the coffee jug, of 1738, no. 85 in the same exhibtion catalogue, with putti chased in high relief against a landscape, and where form again harmonises with the various elements of decoration. On the magnificent ewer and dish commissioned by the Goldsmith's Company in 1741 (catalogue no. 91), Lamerie repeats his successful design of the broken border and the Four Elements, begun on the Maynard dish. These elements are continued on the fine dish made for Stephen Fox, 1st Earl of Ilchester, in about 1740 (catalogue no. 93), (fig. i). Although unmarked, this set has been attributed to de Lamerie's workshop on grounds of style relating particularly to the Maynard dish and has been described as the very best example of Rococo design. This richly designed series is brought to a brilliant climax in the ewer and dish made in 1742 for Algernon Coote, 6th Earl of Mountrath (catalogue no. 92).
Paul de Lamerie, born on 9th April 1668, became apprentice to Pierre Platel in 1703. His seven year term ended in 1711 and he obtained his freedom by service of the Goldsmiths' Company two years later. Evidence of his skill as a goldsmith and his business acumen soon became apparent and by 1717 he was already referred to as "the King's silversmith". During his career, which ended with his death in 1751 he had become the most accomplished goldsmith working in London and is particularly remembered for his highly imaginative interpretation of the new Rococo style. The Maynard dish is arguably the epitome of this style and it is without question a landmark in the history of English silver.