MARK OF BENJAMIN SMITH, LONDON, 1808

Benjamin Smith and Digby Scott began to produce this pattern of wine coaster in 1803. It was the first model of these popular Regency coaster designs, employing grapevine decoration as an appropriate motif for the service of wine. A set of four wine coasters with the same pattern, engraved with the badge of the Duke of Sussex, 6th son of George III, is illustrated in The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al Tajir Collection, 1989, fig. 116, p. 154. Another pair from 1807 is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is illustrated in Yvonne Hackenbroch, English and Other Silver: the Collection of Irwin Untermyer, 1969, fig. 19. Smith's partnership with Scott dissolved in 1807, and Smith entered his own mark that year, as appears on this pair of wine coasters.