MARK OF JOHN HUNT OF PRESTON, FOR EDWARD BARNARD AND SONS LIMITED, LONDON, 1923, 18 CARAT, DESIGNED BY REGINALD J. DAY

Details

A GEORGE V FOUR PIECE GOLD COMMUNION SERVICE
MARK OF JOHN HUNT OF PRESTON, FOR EDWARD BARNARD AND SONS LIMITED, LONDON, 1923, 18 CARAT, DESIGNED BY REGINALD J. DAY
Comprising a chalice, flagon, credence paten and smaller paten, all in fitted oak travelling case, the chalice with a shallow tapering bowl, on a knopped stem and on a raised octagonal foot with scenes representing the Graces of our Lord, the flagon, pear shaped, with scroll handle, domed hinged cover with open Gothic leaf work, the front chased with a panel depicting Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper', the credence paten of circular form, on a raised octagonal foot, the smaller paten of circular form, each engraved with a Latin inscription,
The chalice 8 ¼ in. (21 cm.) high
The credence paten 7 ¼ in. (18.3 cm.) diameter
The paten 7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diameter
The flagon 12 ½ in. (31.5 cm.) high
The chalice 34 oz. (1,055. gr.)
The credence paten 8 oz. 14 dwt. (272 gr.)
The paten 23 oz. 10 dwt. (733 gr.)
The flagon 53 oz. 10 dwt. (1,663 gr.)
Total weight 119 oz. 14 dwt. (3,723 gr.)
Each piece engraved with memorial inscription 'To The Glory of God and in Loving Memory of Annie wife of John Barnes, 2nd September 1922'.
The Latin inscription on the chalice from Psalm 116, verse 13 reads 'Calicem Salutaris accipiam et nomine Domini invocabo', which translated reads 'I take the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord'.
The Latin inscription on the flagon from Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 5 reads 'Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus', which translated reads 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed for all'.
The Latin inscriptions on both the credence paten and the smaller paten from Luke, chapter 2, verse 19 read 'Hor corpus meum est quod pro vobis datur', which translated reads 'This is my body, which is given for you.'

Provenance

Presented in 1923 to St. Thomas' Church, St. Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire by John Barnes (b.c.1867-1926), a civil engineer of Victoria Road, St. Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, in memory of his late wife Annie Barnes (b.c.1874-1922), the daughter of William Taylor, whom he married in 1908.
Anonymous sale; Woolley and Wallis, 29 July 2009, lot 828.

Literature

'Solid Gold Communion Service at St. Anne's', The Lancashire Daily Post, 22 August 1923, p. 6, col. c, illustrated.

Exhibited

London, The Goldsmiths' Hall, Gold; Power and Allure, 1 June-28 July 2012.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The Barnes gold communion service is a extraordinary statement of love for a departed wife. Made from gold from the Mysore mines in India, the gold value alone in 1923 would have been almost £2,000, sixteen years wages for a skilled craftsman of time. It follows in the tradition of Pugin and Burgess using Gothic forms for inspiration.

The service is accompanied by a hand illustrated book by C. W. Norris, illuminator, London, describing all aspects of the set, with colour plates with gold leaf highlights. 'The service consists of four vessels wrought in gold from the Mysore Mine in India and each vessel bears the following inscription, 'To The Glory of God and in Loving Memory of Annie Wife of John Barnes, 2nd September 1922'.

The book continues, 'The vessels are completely hand wrought, embody the work of the finest craftsmen, and are conceived and executed in the spirit of the best examples of Gothic Ecclesiastical Vessels of the late XVth and early XVIth centuries.' The newspaper report in The Lancashire Daily Post, op. cit., records that the model for the chalice was the Leominster chalice originally from the church of St. James, Berwick St. James, Wiltshire, is now in the British Museum.

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