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Lot Essay
This pair of splendid centrepieces epitomizes the rage for Egyptian motifs that swept France and England following Napoleon's Egyptian campaign of 1798. Dominique Vivant Denon's publication Voyages dans la Basse et la Haute Egypt of 1802 fostered romantic notions of ancient Egypt and a fascination for Egyptian artefacts, which influenced the designs of Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine in Paris, and Thomas Hope in London, among many others.
The model for this present pair of centrepieces is based on the oeuvre of Charles Heathcote Tatham, and combines elements from Tatham's published drawing of a centerpiece for the 5th Earl of Carlisle and a silver-gilt candelabrum signed by Tatham and made by William Pitts in 1800 (illustrated in A. G. Grimwade, "Silver at Althorp," Connoisseur, March 1963, fig. 8, p. 165.) The treatment of the pedestal to the present centrepieces, with their foliate decoration above a calyx of scrolling acanthus leaves, is closely related to the pedestal support found on Tatham's Althorp candelabrum. The essential form, however, with its tripod base, three double-light branches, and central tazzal, is that of the Carlisle centrepiece, published in Designs for Ornamental Plate with the caption "A Piece of Plate designed and executed in Silver for the Earl of Carlisle in the year 1801." Hilary Young has suggested that Tatham drew upon Percier & Fontaine's Recueil de Décorations Interieures of 1801 for the Egyptian details on his work, and the sphinxes on the present centrepieces certainly deserve comparison with an example in silver by Percier (Hilary Young, "A Further Note on J.J. Boileau, A Forgotten Designer of Silver," Apollo, October 1986, p. 336, fig. 3).
The attribution of the present centrepieces to Philip Cornman (d. 1822) is based on four silver-gilt candelabrum centrepieces featuring Cornman’s mark and bearing the inscription of the retailers Rundell and Bridge, one of which was sold ‘Important Silver’, Christie’s, London, 12 June 2006, lot 89 (£102,000 including premium). The three other related centrepieces by Cornman comprise an example of 1806 (illustrated in D. Udy, "The Influence of Charles Heathcote Tatham," Proceedings of the Society of Silver Collectors, Autumn 1975, p. 105, fig. 163), an example of 1803 (illustrated Sotheby's, London, February 5, 1987, lot 152), and another example, part of a dessert-service of 1806, which represents an adaptation of Tatham's design by Jean-Jacques Boileau (illustrated in Young, op. cit., fig. 6, p. 337; sold at Christie's, London, June 24, 1981, lots 22-24.) The mark of Cornman, who was trained as a sculptor and goldsmith, is rare, appearing only on the four above centerpieces, a pair of compotes (Sotheby's, London, February 23, 1967, lot 150), two Warwick vases and a magnificent eight-piece Royal communion service of 1802 and 1803 for the Metropolitan Church at Quebec supplied by Rundell's. Evidence suggests that Cornman also had a personal relationship with Tatham, aside from his obvious familiarity with Tatham's published works. One of Cornman's exhibits of wax models at the Royal Academy included a portrait of the 5th of Earl of Carlisle, Tatham's patron for the original drawing of this centrepiece design (Young, op. cit., p. 336).
The model for this present pair of centrepieces is based on the oeuvre of Charles Heathcote Tatham, and combines elements from Tatham's published drawing of a centerpiece for the 5th Earl of Carlisle and a silver-gilt candelabrum signed by Tatham and made by William Pitts in 1800 (illustrated in A. G. Grimwade, "Silver at Althorp," Connoisseur, March 1963, fig. 8, p. 165.) The treatment of the pedestal to the present centrepieces, with their foliate decoration above a calyx of scrolling acanthus leaves, is closely related to the pedestal support found on Tatham's Althorp candelabrum. The essential form, however, with its tripod base, three double-light branches, and central tazzal, is that of the Carlisle centrepiece, published in Designs for Ornamental Plate with the caption "A Piece of Plate designed and executed in Silver for the Earl of Carlisle in the year 1801." Hilary Young has suggested that Tatham drew upon Percier & Fontaine's Recueil de Décorations Interieures of 1801 for the Egyptian details on his work, and the sphinxes on the present centrepieces certainly deserve comparison with an example in silver by Percier (Hilary Young, "A Further Note on J.J. Boileau, A Forgotten Designer of Silver," Apollo, October 1986, p. 336, fig. 3).
The attribution of the present centrepieces to Philip Cornman (d. 1822) is based on four silver-gilt candelabrum centrepieces featuring Cornman’s mark and bearing the inscription of the retailers Rundell and Bridge, one of which was sold ‘Important Silver’, Christie’s, London, 12 June 2006, lot 89 (£102,000 including premium). The three other related centrepieces by Cornman comprise an example of 1806 (illustrated in D. Udy, "The Influence of Charles Heathcote Tatham," Proceedings of the Society of Silver Collectors, Autumn 1975, p. 105, fig. 163), an example of 1803 (illustrated Sotheby's, London, February 5, 1987, lot 152), and another example, part of a dessert-service of 1806, which represents an adaptation of Tatham's design by Jean-Jacques Boileau (illustrated in Young, op. cit., fig. 6, p. 337; sold at Christie's, London, June 24, 1981, lots 22-24.) The mark of Cornman, who was trained as a sculptor and goldsmith, is rare, appearing only on the four above centerpieces, a pair of compotes (Sotheby's, London, February 23, 1967, lot 150), two Warwick vases and a magnificent eight-piece Royal communion service of 1802 and 1803 for the Metropolitan Church at Quebec supplied by Rundell's. Evidence suggests that Cornman also had a personal relationship with Tatham, aside from his obvious familiarity with Tatham's published works. One of Cornman's exhibits of wax models at the Royal Academy included a portrait of the 5th of Earl of Carlisle, Tatham's patron for the original drawing of this centrepiece design (Young, op. cit., p. 336).