.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This silver-gilt ewer and sideboard dish were issued through the Jewel House as ambassadorial plate. As representatives of the monarch, ambassadors were meant to entertain lavishly with the most fashionable silver and silver-gilt objects. This ewer and sideboard dish were issued to Charles Whitworth in 1710 for his diplomatic mission to Russia. The Jewel House Delivery Book states
'one large gilt bason & Ewer...his Excellency Cha[rles] Whitworth Esqr. Ambassadr. Extraordinary to the Emperor of Russia for ye Use of his Table--to be return'd unto her Majties Jewell Office upon demand.'
Other plate issued to Whitworth included silver-gilt plates, a fountain and washer, sconces, and two covered cups (LC9/44 Delivery Book 1698 - 1732). Similarly, the Warrant Book of 1710 - 1731 records
'these are to signify her Majties. Pleasure that you provide and Deliver to His Excellency Char. Whitworth Esqr. Ambassador Extraordinary from Her Majty. To the Emperour of Russia the quantity of five thousand Eight hundred Ninety three Ounces of White plate and one Thousand Sixty six ounces of gilt plate being the Usuall allowance on such like Occasions And for doing so this shall be your Warrt. Given under my hand this 12th day of December 1710 in the Ninth Year of her Majtie's Reign. Signed by Shrewsbury and Jno. Charlton of the Jewel Office.'
Following the return of the pieces to the Jewel House on July 1714, they were re-engraved with the Hanoverian royal arms and subsequently re-issued.
Charles Whitworth (1675 - 1725), educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, was one of the most prominent diplomats of the first quarter of the eighteenth century. He was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to Russia in 1704 where his experiences inspired him to write An Account of Russia as it was in the year 1710 which was printed posthumously by Horace Walpole in 1758. In 1711 he was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Tsar and the King of Poland, and in 1714 was appointed English Plenipotentiary at the Congress of Baden. The following year he was minister to the Diet at Ratisbon and in 1716 he was envoy to the court of Prussia. He was created Baron Whitworth of Galway in 1720. He married Magdalena Jacoba Countess de Vaulgremont (d. 1734) but had no children and the peerage became extinct on his death. He is shown in this portrait with his young nephew Charles (1752 - 1825), his heir, who was to become a notable diplomat himself.
CAPTION 1: Charles, 1st Lord Whitworth and his Nephew, by John Ellys, Christie's Images
'one large gilt bason & Ewer...his Excellency Cha[rles] Whitworth Esqr. Ambassadr. Extraordinary to the Emperor of Russia for ye Use of his Table--to be return'd unto her Majties Jewell Office upon demand.'
Other plate issued to Whitworth included silver-gilt plates, a fountain and washer, sconces, and two covered cups (LC9/44 Delivery Book 1698 - 1732). Similarly, the Warrant Book of 1710 - 1731 records
'these are to signify her Majties. Pleasure that you provide and Deliver to His Excellency Char. Whitworth Esqr. Ambassador Extraordinary from Her Majty. To the Emperour of Russia the quantity of five thousand Eight hundred Ninety three Ounces of White plate and one Thousand Sixty six ounces of gilt plate being the Usuall allowance on such like Occasions And for doing so this shall be your Warrt. Given under my hand this 12th day of December 1710 in the Ninth Year of her Majtie's Reign. Signed by Shrewsbury and Jno. Charlton of the Jewel Office.'
Following the return of the pieces to the Jewel House on July 1714, they were re-engraved with the Hanoverian royal arms and subsequently re-issued.
Charles Whitworth (1675 - 1725), educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, was one of the most prominent diplomats of the first quarter of the eighteenth century. He was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to Russia in 1704 where his experiences inspired him to write An Account of Russia as it was in the year 1710 which was printed posthumously by Horace Walpole in 1758. In 1711 he was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Tsar and the King of Poland, and in 1714 was appointed English Plenipotentiary at the Congress of Baden. The following year he was minister to the Diet at Ratisbon and in 1716 he was envoy to the court of Prussia. He was created Baron Whitworth of Galway in 1720. He married Magdalena Jacoba Countess de Vaulgremont (d. 1734) but had no children and the peerage became extinct on his death. He is shown in this portrait with his young nephew Charles (1752 - 1825), his heir, who was to become a notable diplomat himself.
CAPTION 1: Charles, 1st Lord Whitworth and his Nephew, by John Ellys, Christie's Images