MARK OF JOHN FARNELL, LONDON, 1716

Details

A PAIR OF GEORGE I LARGE SILVER TEA CADDIES
MARK OF JOHN FARNELL, LONDON, 1716
Each plain octagonal on moulded foot, with a cylindrical neck and domed cover, engraved with a coat-of-arms within elaborate Baroque mantling, the sliding bases with scratched inscription, marked on body and under base
5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm.) high
21 oz. 19 dwt. (683gr.)
The arms are those of Impey, of Hammersmith, London.

The inscription on one reads 'holds 1/3 of a pound', the other partly legible 'This tea Caddie was given by Mrs. Fuller to her daughter Eliza wife of WM. Churton, & by her was transmitted to her daughter Eliza wife of H.P. Churton m. 1852, who in turn left it to her son Henry Churton AD 1878'.

Provenance

The Impey family, Hammersmith, presumably given to Mrs Fuller, by bequest to her daughter,
Eliza Fuller (1784-1852), wife of William M. Churton (1770-1851), a hosier of 91 Oxford Street and Sutton Court Lodge, Chiswick, to their daughter,
Eliza Fuller (1808-1878), wife of Henry Parsons Churton (1804-1890), of 2 Westcott Place, Hammersmith, to their son,
The Reverend Henry Churton (d.1934),
With S.J. Shrubsole, New York.
A New England Collection; Christie's, New York, 16 April 1999, lot 219.

Literature

A. Stevens, K. Richenburg and G. Walkling ed., The Story of British Tea Chests and Caddies, Woodbridge, 2022, pp. 304-305, fig. 17.5.

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

According to the scratched inscription on the base of one of these caddies they hold 1/3 of as pound of tea, which, as noted by Jeanne Sloane in her chapter on silver tea caddies in Stevens et al., op. cit., p. 305, is rather more that the usual sized tea caddy which was made to hold 1/4 pound.

The arms engraved on the caddies also appeared on a memorial formerly in Hammersmith Chapel, now preserved in St. Paul's Church, Hammersmith. It records the deaths of James Impey M.A. of Christ Church College, Oxford in 1750 aged 30 and seven other members of the family until Elijah Mathew Impey in 1805 aged 28.

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

View All