Sir James Harris, Earl of Malmsbury (1746-1820), octagonal silver Jeton 1786, by Pierre Joseph Lorthior, arms with helm, crest, and supporters, motto UBIQUE PATRIAM REMINISCI, signed below, rev. legend in seven lines between floral scrolls (Forrer III,476; see Ed. van Hende, P Lorthior et son oeuvre, Lille, 1898), good very fine, rare

Details

Sir James Harris, Earl of Malmsbury (1746-1820), octagonal silver Jeton 1786, by Pierre Joseph Lorthior, arms with helm, crest, and supporters, motto UBIQUE PATRIAM REMINISCI, signed below, rev. legend in seven lines between floral scrolls (Forrer III,476; see Ed. van Hende, P Lorthior et son oeuvre, Lille, 1898), good very fine, rare

Lot Essay

James Harris, first Earl of Malmsbury (1746-1820), was minister plenipotentiary in Madrid, Berlin, St Petersburg and the Hague. He was created knight of the Bath 1778. He successfully argued for an alliance between England, Holland and Prussia, signing the Treaty 15 April 1788. In September the same year he was created Baron Malmsbury. At this time Mirabeau refered to him as 'Ce rus et audacieux Harris'. On the outbreak of the revolution in France he was an ally of Fox, but by 1793 he had left him and was again on government business in Berlin. In 1796 he was sent to Paris to negotiate terms of Peace, and the next year was sent to Lille on the same mission. Tallyrand said of him 'Je crois que Lord Malmsbury tait le plus habile Ministre que vous aviez de son temps; c'tait inutile de le devancer; il falloit le suivre de prs.'