MARK OF THOMAS HEMING, LONDON, 1762

In 1760, Thomas Heming was appointed as Principal Goldsmith to King George lll (r.1760-1820), a position he held until the year prior to his retirement in 1783. Heming was the first working goldsmith to hold this post since the early seventeenth century and he supplied the Coronation Service to George III between 1760 and 1763. The majority of the Coronation Service was made in his workshop. The style chosen for the service was a modified version of the French rococo, with a strong influence of Pierre Germain's 'Eléments d’orfèvrerie devisés' published in Paris in 1748. The term Coronation Service has been used for this dining service since the 1820s. Despite this title, the commission for the service took nearly a year to complete and was therefore not finished in time for use at the King and Queen's coronation banquet on 22 September 1761. The service was used at the 'extremely magnificent banquet' held on 19 September 1768 at the Queen's House in honour of Christian VII of Denmark. Modest additions were made to the service throughout the 1760s. Heming also supplied large quantities of ambassadorial plates.