BY FRANCIS HARACHE (FL.1738-1754), LONDON, 1741

Details

A GEORGE II GOLD SNUFF-BOX
BY FRANCIS HARACHE (FL.1738-1754), LONDON, 1741
Cartouche-shaped, the sides chased with elaborate foliate scrolls and shells enclosing dolphins and waterfalls, the hinged cover with a scene of a couple of musicians amid rocaille and classical ruins enclosed by foliage and scrolls, all on a matted ground, the base later engraved with a presentation inscription, marked inside base and on cover
2 7/8 in. (75 mm.) long
3 oz. 3 dwt. (98 gr.)
The inscription reads: 'A Token of Esteem, from the Proprietors of the Royal Fort Estate at Bristol, to Charles James Esq:re of New Inn London, 1792.'

Provenance

A New York Collector; Christie's, New York, 21 October 1993, lot 182.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Harry Williams-Bulkeley International Head of Silver Department

hwilliams-bulkeley@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2666

Lot Essay

FRANCIS HARACHE
Francis Harache entered a smallworker's mark as 'Silversmith att ye Seven Dyals in great St. Andrew Street att ye Blackmoors head St. Gilses' on 16 February 1737/1738 in the Goldsmiths' Hall Registers, vol. A1, Smallworkers, p. 26. He is recorded there by Heal as 'silversmith and toyman' from 1732 to 1758, as listed in The London Goldsmiths 1200-1800, A Record of the Names and Addresses of the Craftsmen their Shop-signs and Trade-cards, Newton-Abbot, 1972, p. 164. The Poor Rate Books for the parish of St Giles record Harache as a ratepayer in Great St Andrew Street from 1741/42 to 1753, when the house was taken over by the watchcase maker James Freshfield. Harache is then recorded as a ratepayer in the neighbouring Little Earl Street from 1754 until his death in 1757. He was a Huguenot but his relationship to Pierre Harache I and II is not known.

THE PRESENTATION
The inscription engraved on the base suggests a gift by Thomas Tyndall (1723–1794), a Bristol merchant and banker to a Charles James of New Inn, London, presumably a lawyer. The Royal Kalendar for 1811 lists a Charles James of New Inn as one of the side-clerks in the division of attorney Mr. John Tarrant, of the Exchequer Office of Pleas. It may relate to a development in Tyndall's Park. Thomas Tyndall built The Royal Fort House built in Tyndalls Park, Bristol between 1758 and 1761. By the late 1780s he had been persuaded to accept £40,000 for it from a consortium, who in 1792 obtained an Act of Parliament enabling them to build, however, the outbreak of war in France in 1793 led to a recession and the developers' bankruptcy. In 1798 the land reverted to Thomas Tyndall, who proceeded to have the site landscaped into a striking park.

More from Bayreuth: A Connoisseur's Collection of English Silver and Gold Boxes

View All