Lot Essay
Th arms are those of Craven impaling Berkeley, for William, 6th Baron Craven (1738-1806) and his wife Elizabeth, second daughter of Augustus, 4th Earl of Berkeley, who he married at Spring Gardens, St. Martin-in the-Fields, on 30 May 1767.
The dinner service was no doubt commissioned to commemorate the marriage in 1767 and would have been displayed in his London house in Drury Lane, Craven House. Originally a Tudor manor house, it was rebuilt by the architect William Winde in the 1680's for the celebrated 1st Lord Craven, a distinguished soldier and reputed lover of the Queen of Bohemia. The house remained relatively unchanged into the 18th century as contemporary engravings show. It was demolished to make way for the Olympic Theatre in 1805. From 1772 William, 6th Lord Craven, employed Lancelot 'Capability' Brown build Benham Park, his Berkshire house, and no doubt the dinner service would also have been displayed on the buffet of his new dining room.
Lord Craven was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and became a Fellow of All Souls in 1762. In politics he was a Whig however, he was not noted for his political skill and indeed, as his entry in The Complete Peerage records, his wife held great sway over him, as illustrated by a challenge levelled him in The House of Lords, 'is it my Lord that is in opposition or my Lady?' The Royal Register, vol. II. The separation of Lord Craven and his wife, in 1780, was one of the great cause célèbres of 18th century society. Lady Craven cited her husband's infidelity, however, it was well know that she was the mistress of the Margrave of Brandenburgh and Ansbach, who having sold his pricipality to the King of Prussia had taken up residence at 'Brandenburgh House' in Hammersmith. She was an author of numerous plays and was admired by Horace Walpole for her beauty, talents and frankness. It was said that on the death of Lord Craven,in 1791 that she went into deep mourning immediately and wept as a grieving widow, only to throw of the widow's weeds the next day to marry the Margrave. In reality Lord Craven died in Lausanne on 27 September 1791 and his wife remarried in Lisbon on 13 October of that year.
The dinner service was no doubt commissioned to commemorate the marriage in 1767 and would have been displayed in his London house in Drury Lane, Craven House. Originally a Tudor manor house, it was rebuilt by the architect William Winde in the 1680's for the celebrated 1st Lord Craven, a distinguished soldier and reputed lover of the Queen of Bohemia. The house remained relatively unchanged into the 18th century as contemporary engravings show. It was demolished to make way for the Olympic Theatre in 1805. From 1772 William, 6th Lord Craven, employed Lancelot 'Capability' Brown build Benham Park, his Berkshire house, and no doubt the dinner service would also have been displayed on the buffet of his new dining room.
Lord Craven was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and became a Fellow of All Souls in 1762. In politics he was a Whig however, he was not noted for his political skill and indeed, as his entry in The Complete Peerage records, his wife held great sway over him, as illustrated by a challenge levelled him in The House of Lords, 'is it my Lord that is in opposition or my Lady?' The Royal Register, vol. II. The separation of Lord Craven and his wife, in 1780, was one of the great cause célèbres of 18th century society. Lady Craven cited her husband's infidelity, however, it was well know that she was the mistress of the Margrave of Brandenburgh and Ansbach, who having sold his pricipality to the King of Prussia had taken up residence at 'Brandenburgh House' in Hammersmith. She was an author of numerous plays and was admired by Horace Walpole for her beauty, talents and frankness. It was said that on the death of Lord Craven,in 1791 that she went into deep mourning immediately and wept as a grieving widow, only to throw of the widow's weeds the next day to marry the Margrave. In reality Lord Craven died in Lausanne on 27 September 1791 and his wife remarried in Lisbon on 13 October of that year.