Lot Essay
The inscription translates literally as, 'The Hollow Tree of the Spectre /1813'
These oak stands, and the cups in the following lot, were made out of an oak tree on the Nannau estate in North Wales which fell down on 28 July 1813. The tree was known as 'Ceubren Yr Ellyll' or 'The haunted oak'. Further objects also made from this tree are in the National Museum of Wales, among which are a butter tub also mounted with bands of silver inscribed 'Ceubren Yr Ellyll', a pair of candlestands with the Vaughan coat-of-arms and inscribed 'Ceubren Yr Ellyll 1813' and an engraving after E.P. Anwyl of Sir Robert Williams Vaughan, in an oak frame which is presumed to be from the tree.
According to the legend, in the early 15th Century, Howell Sele, a strong supporter of Henry V, was a bitter enemy of his cousin, Owen Glendower. While out hunting at Nannau, Owen Glendower killed his cousin after he had been attacked by him and placed his body in an oak tree. An oak linked to this legend blew down at Nannau in 1813.
We are grateful to The National Museum of Wales and to Tomas Roberts of the University of Wales, Bangor, for their help in preparing this catalogue entry.
The arms on the stands are those of Vaughan impaling Mostyn for Sir Robert Williames Vaughan M.P. and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Roger Mostyn (d.1796), whom he married in 1801.
These oak stands, and the cups in the following lot, were made out of an oak tree on the Nannau estate in North Wales which fell down on 28 July 1813. The tree was known as 'Ceubren Yr Ellyll' or 'The haunted oak'. Further objects also made from this tree are in the National Museum of Wales, among which are a butter tub also mounted with bands of silver inscribed 'Ceubren Yr Ellyll', a pair of candlestands with the Vaughan coat-of-arms and inscribed 'Ceubren Yr Ellyll 1813' and an engraving after E.P. Anwyl of Sir Robert Williams Vaughan, in an oak frame which is presumed to be from the tree.
According to the legend, in the early 15th Century, Howell Sele, a strong supporter of Henry V, was a bitter enemy of his cousin, Owen Glendower. While out hunting at Nannau, Owen Glendower killed his cousin after he had been attacked by him and placed his body in an oak tree. An oak linked to this legend blew down at Nannau in 1813.
We are grateful to The National Museum of Wales and to Tomas Roberts of the University of Wales, Bangor, for their help in preparing this catalogue entry.
The arms on the stands are those of Vaughan impaling Mostyn for Sir Robert Williames Vaughan M.P. and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Roger Mostyn (d.1796), whom he married in 1801.