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Lot Essay
THOMAS FARREN
Farren served as Subordinate Goldsmith to the King from 1723 until 1742. His most impressive surviving work is the wine cistern and accompanying wine fountain of 1728 made for Brownlow, 8th Earl of Exeter (1701-1754) preserved at Burghley House, Stamford. The son of a Tewkesbury maltster, he was made free of the Goldsmiths' Company in 1707. Grimwade noted in his London Goldsmiths 1697-1830, Their Marks and Lives, that his best work was of 'fine quality' and showed some French Huguenot influence, demonstrated here with the use of a French wine cooler form, which follow the form of French early eighteenth century wine coolers, now only known by métal plaqué d'argent examples, such as a pair from the Puiforcat and NIarchos collections, now in the Louvre Museum, Paris publised in M. Bimbenet-Privat, F. Doux, C. Gougeon, Orfèvrerie de la Renaissance et des Temps Modernes XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. La collection du Musée du Louvre, vol. 2., Paris, 2022, p. 263, fig. p. 263, no. 448. Further French influences on Farren's work can be seen in a tureen of 1728 sold in the Manny Davidson sale, Sotheby's Paris, 5 November 2025, lot 58, one of the earliest English examples of its type.
It is significant to note that much of the Baron's dinner service, sold alongside these wine coolers in the Sotheby's 1951 sale, was supplied by the Huguenot silversmiths such as Paul Crespin, with flatware by David Willaume and other works by Paul de Lamerie.
As Subordinate Goldsmith to the King Farren supplied the Royal Household and officers of state through the Royal Jewel House, whose records are preserved in the National Archives. He was closely associated with other important goldsmith-bankers, subordinate goldsmiths to the King and Prime Wardens of the Goldsmiths’ Company, such as John Edwards and William Denny, both subordinate goldsmiths. He is also linked to John Bache and John Ruslen, Prime Wardens of the Goldsmiths' Company. Ruslen and fellow goldsmith Thomas Folkingham were both recorded as witnesses to Farren’s freedom of the City of London. It is worthy of note that they all, apart from Bache, resided on St Swithin’s Lane off Lombard Street in the centre of the City of London. Farren's premises were at the sign of the Unicorn.
Other works by Farren include a silver-gilt porringer and cover of circa 1740 engraved with the cypher of King George II and a pair of casters of circa 1725, which remain in the Royal Collection. The casters were a gift to King George V. The collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, includes a silver-gilt cup and cover of 1732 with a Russian imperial provenance. Farren supplied the notorious South Sea Company with a fine silver-gilt tazza or salver in 1715, now in the Museum of London. A joint-stock company founded in 1711, it crashed spectacularly in 1720, giving rise to the term the 'South Sea Bubble'. A very fine pair of double-lipped sauceboats by Farren with dolphin handles and floral swags is in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
JOHN MONSON, 1ST BARON MONSON
Born into a Lincolnshire landowning family with close ties to the Whig statesman Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1693-1768), Monson was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford, later following his father into politics being elected as MP for the City of Lincoln in 1722. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all held the seat. Monson was invested as a Knight of the Bath on the revival of the order in 1725 by King George I, commemorated on these wine coolers where the coat-of-arms is encircled by the motto of the Order, 'Tria juncta in uno - Three joined in one'. In April of the same year he made an advantageous marriage to Lady Margaret Watson, youngest daughter of Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham (1655-1724). He succeeded his father's elder brother to the family baronetcy in 1727. It was one of the very earliest baronetcies created by King James I in 1611, given to Monson's great-grandfather, Sir Thomas Monson, 1st Bt of Carlton (1565-1641), who had served the King as Keeper of the Armoury at Greenwich, Master of the Armoury at the Tower of London, and Master Falconer.
King George I elevated Monson to the peerage in 1728 as Baron Monson of Burton, after the family's Lincolnshire estate and Tudor seat, Burton Hall. Through the Duke of Newcastle's patronage he was made commissioner of trade and plantations, an office he held until his death, despite his tenure being seen as one of inactivity and lack of substance. He was succeeded by the eldest of his three sons, John Monson, 2nd Baron Monson (1727-1774). Baron Monson's entry in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, 1970, cites a letter from the Duke of Newcastle to Henry Pelham commenting on Monson's death. The duke wrote, 'The King has lost a most honest and useful servant, his country a most disinterested Member, and all that knew him intimately a most valuable friend, and we in particular, a most affectionate one. My own loss is greater than anybody’s.'.
Farren served as Subordinate Goldsmith to the King from 1723 until 1742. His most impressive surviving work is the wine cistern and accompanying wine fountain of 1728 made for Brownlow, 8th Earl of Exeter (1701-1754) preserved at Burghley House, Stamford. The son of a Tewkesbury maltster, he was made free of the Goldsmiths' Company in 1707. Grimwade noted in his London Goldsmiths 1697-1830, Their Marks and Lives, that his best work was of 'fine quality' and showed some French Huguenot influence, demonstrated here with the use of a French wine cooler form, which follow the form of French early eighteenth century wine coolers, now only known by métal plaqué d'argent examples, such as a pair from the Puiforcat and NIarchos collections, now in the Louvre Museum, Paris publised in M. Bimbenet-Privat, F. Doux, C. Gougeon, Orfèvrerie de la Renaissance et des Temps Modernes XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. La collection du Musée du Louvre, vol. 2., Paris, 2022, p. 263, fig. p. 263, no. 448. Further French influences on Farren's work can be seen in a tureen of 1728 sold in the Manny Davidson sale, Sotheby's Paris, 5 November 2025, lot 58, one of the earliest English examples of its type.
It is significant to note that much of the Baron's dinner service, sold alongside these wine coolers in the Sotheby's 1951 sale, was supplied by the Huguenot silversmiths such as Paul Crespin, with flatware by David Willaume and other works by Paul de Lamerie.
As Subordinate Goldsmith to the King Farren supplied the Royal Household and officers of state through the Royal Jewel House, whose records are preserved in the National Archives. He was closely associated with other important goldsmith-bankers, subordinate goldsmiths to the King and Prime Wardens of the Goldsmiths’ Company, such as John Edwards and William Denny, both subordinate goldsmiths. He is also linked to John Bache and John Ruslen, Prime Wardens of the Goldsmiths' Company. Ruslen and fellow goldsmith Thomas Folkingham were both recorded as witnesses to Farren’s freedom of the City of London. It is worthy of note that they all, apart from Bache, resided on St Swithin’s Lane off Lombard Street in the centre of the City of London. Farren's premises were at the sign of the Unicorn.
Other works by Farren include a silver-gilt porringer and cover of circa 1740 engraved with the cypher of King George II and a pair of casters of circa 1725, which remain in the Royal Collection. The casters were a gift to King George V. The collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, includes a silver-gilt cup and cover of 1732 with a Russian imperial provenance. Farren supplied the notorious South Sea Company with a fine silver-gilt tazza or salver in 1715, now in the Museum of London. A joint-stock company founded in 1711, it crashed spectacularly in 1720, giving rise to the term the 'South Sea Bubble'. A very fine pair of double-lipped sauceboats by Farren with dolphin handles and floral swags is in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
JOHN MONSON, 1ST BARON MONSON
Born into a Lincolnshire landowning family with close ties to the Whig statesman Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1693-1768), Monson was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford, later following his father into politics being elected as MP for the City of Lincoln in 1722. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all held the seat. Monson was invested as a Knight of the Bath on the revival of the order in 1725 by King George I, commemorated on these wine coolers where the coat-of-arms is encircled by the motto of the Order, 'Tria juncta in uno - Three joined in one'. In April of the same year he made an advantageous marriage to Lady Margaret Watson, youngest daughter of Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham (1655-1724). He succeeded his father's elder brother to the family baronetcy in 1727. It was one of the very earliest baronetcies created by King James I in 1611, given to Monson's great-grandfather, Sir Thomas Monson, 1st Bt of Carlton (1565-1641), who had served the King as Keeper of the Armoury at Greenwich, Master of the Armoury at the Tower of London, and Master Falconer.
King George I elevated Monson to the peerage in 1728 as Baron Monson of Burton, after the family's Lincolnshire estate and Tudor seat, Burton Hall. Through the Duke of Newcastle's patronage he was made commissioner of trade and plantations, an office he held until his death, despite his tenure being seen as one of inactivity and lack of substance. He was succeeded by the eldest of his three sons, John Monson, 2nd Baron Monson (1727-1774). Baron Monson's entry in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, 1970, cites a letter from the Duke of Newcastle to Henry Pelham commenting on Monson's death. The duke wrote, 'The King has lost a most honest and useful servant, his country a most disinterested Member, and all that knew him intimately a most valuable friend, and we in particular, a most affectionate one. My own loss is greater than anybody’s.'.