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Lot Essay
This pair of German salts forms part of the Hanover Royal plate which remained at the Herrenhausen Palace until shortly after the Seven Weeks' War in 1866. The Palace was sacked by Prussian troops during the war, but the Royal plate was hidden in a vault. George Frederick, King of Hanover, was deposed during that war and the family was deprived of the title Kings of Hanover. They were henceforth known as Dukes of Brunswick and moved to Austria. The silver was moved to Penzing near Vienna and to the Duke's villa at Gmunden. On the death of George Frederick's son Ernest Augustus, a considerable part of the Hanover silver, both English and German, was purchased by the Viennese dealer Glückselig and appears to have been resold to the London dealers Crichton Brothers.
Lewin Dedeke (1660 - 1733) of Celle was one of the Hanoverian court goldsmiths. He apprenticed under Adam Wagner of Braunsweig and became Master in 1691. (W. Scheffler, Celler Silber, exhibition catalogue, 1988, p. 65). In 1697 he was appointed Hofgoldschmied, a post he held until his death in 1733.
The commissions from the Hanoverian court were so extensive in the prosperous years following the Allied defeat of the French at Blenheim in 1704, that several silversmiths were employed by the royal household. It appears that collaboration between masters, even on individual pieces, also took place during this period. Indeed, Lewin Dedeke collaborated with another Hanover court goldsmith, Conrad Holling, from 1706 to 1727 (see W. Scheffler, Goldschmiede Niedersachsens, Berlin, 1965, p. 249). It is tempting to suggest that the D crowned and DD marks found in association with Holling's mark on Hanoverian Royal silver are unrecorded Dedeke marks. The former is found on two flasks and the latter on three further flasks exhibited in Vienna in 1889, and on the Luton Hoo ewers and basins (Sotheby's, London, 24 May 1995, lot 100). The mark traditionally ascribed to Dedeke, 'LD' in monogram, struck on these salts, appears on a large number of pieces made for the Hanoverian Court and recorded at Penzing (see Scheffler, op. cit., p. 250). A set of three silver-gilt casters and a table service with 56 pieces marked by Dedecke were sold at Christie's, Geneva, 19 November 1996, lots 56 and 58. A wine cistern and fountain made for George I as Elector of Hanover also marked by Dedeke were sold at Christie's, New York, 23 October 2000, lot 486.
CAPTION: Equestrian Portrait of George II, circle of David Morier, Christie's Images
Lewin Dedeke (1660 - 1733) of Celle was one of the Hanoverian court goldsmiths. He apprenticed under Adam Wagner of Braunsweig and became Master in 1691. (W. Scheffler, Celler Silber, exhibition catalogue, 1988, p. 65). In 1697 he was appointed Hofgoldschmied, a post he held until his death in 1733.
The commissions from the Hanoverian court were so extensive in the prosperous years following the Allied defeat of the French at Blenheim in 1704, that several silversmiths were employed by the royal household. It appears that collaboration between masters, even on individual pieces, also took place during this period. Indeed, Lewin Dedeke collaborated with another Hanover court goldsmith, Conrad Holling, from 1706 to 1727 (see W. Scheffler, Goldschmiede Niedersachsens, Berlin, 1965, p. 249). It is tempting to suggest that the D crowned and DD marks found in association with Holling's mark on Hanoverian Royal silver are unrecorded Dedeke marks. The former is found on two flasks and the latter on three further flasks exhibited in Vienna in 1889, and on the Luton Hoo ewers and basins (Sotheby's, London, 24 May 1995, lot 100). The mark traditionally ascribed to Dedeke, 'LD' in monogram, struck on these salts, appears on a large number of pieces made for the Hanoverian Court and recorded at Penzing (see Scheffler, op. cit., p. 250). A set of three silver-gilt casters and a table service with 56 pieces marked by Dedecke were sold at Christie's, Geneva, 19 November 1996, lots 56 and 58. A wine cistern and fountain made for George I as Elector of Hanover also marked by Dedeke were sold at Christie's, New York, 23 October 2000, lot 486.
CAPTION: Equestrian Portrait of George II, circle of David Morier, Christie's Images