A GEORGE IV SILVER SOUP TUREEN
A GEORGE IV SILVER SOUP TUREEN

MARK OF BENJAMIN SMITH, LONDON, 1823

Details
A GEORGE IV SILVER SOUP TUREEN
MARK OF BENJAMIN SMITH, LONDON, 1823
Circular, on four scroll and leaf feet headed by acanthus, the fluted body with acanthus and shell rim and reeded acanthus handles, the fluted domed cover with beaded and gadrooned leaf border, surmounted by a calyx with entwined serpent finial, the body engraved with a coat-of-arms beneath a Baron's coronet, the cover engraved with a crest, with removable liner, marked on body, liner, under cover, on beaded border and on and under finial, the liner marked 1824
14 in. (36.2 cm.) long over handles; 217 oz. 10 dwt. (6,776 gr.)
Provenance
Christie's, New York, 23 October 2000, lot 339

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Lot Essay

The arms are those of Baring impaling Bingham, as borne by Alexander Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton (1774-1845). In 1798 he married Anne Louisa, daughter of William Bingham of Philadelphia, a member of the U.S. Senate.

Alexander Baring was a renowned financier and statesman. He was the head of Baring Brothers merchant bank for 18 years, a firm of which the Duc de Richelieu said, "There are six great powers in Europe, viz. England, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia and Baring Brothers" (Complete Peerage). Daniel Webster praised him as "a good man to deal with, who could see that there were two sides to a question." Baring was an enthusiastic art collector, and was a trustee of both the British Museum and the National Gallery.

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