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Lot Essay
The arms are those of Russell of Swallowfield, Berkshire as borne by Sir Henry Russell, 1st Baronet (1751-1836). Russell received a baronetcy upon his return to England in 1812, following a posting as Chief of the Supreme Court of Justice of Bengal. A Privy Councilor, he married first Anne, daughter of John Skinner, of Lydd, Kent, and second, Anna Barbara, youngest daughter of Sir Charles Whitworth.
Russell acquired other pieces of silver by Paul Storr, including a four-light candelabrum featuring a draped caryatid upholding a basket of grapes of 1815, which sold at Christie's, London, May 18, 1966, lot 33. A set of four sauce tureens and covers by Paul Storr of 1816, also engraved with the arms of Russell of Swallowfield, sold as lot 28 in that sale.
Royal Goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell produced figural dessert stands with slight variations in design. Rundell's album of designs at the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a centerpiece, attributed to E. H. Baily after a design by Thomas Stothard, featuring three bacchic nymphs supporting an openwork basket. A pair of silver-gilt dessert stands of 1810-11, also with bacchic figures set between crossed thrysi, formed part of the Duke of Wellington's Ambassadorial Service and remain at Apsley House (illustrated in N. M. Penzer, Paul Storr: The Last of the Goldsmiths, 1954 , pl. XXXIII, p. 144). Three silver-gilt dessert stands and a centerpiece with scroll candle branches of similar design to Wellington's plate by Paul Storr are illustrated in M. Moss, The Lillian and Morrie Moss Collection of Paul Storr Silver, 1972, pl. 65-66, pp. 128-29. A centerpiece consisting of three dessert stands with large mirror-plateau, produced by Paul Storr in 1810 is illustrated in The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, 1989, no. 131, p. 170.
Russell acquired other pieces of silver by Paul Storr, including a four-light candelabrum featuring a draped caryatid upholding a basket of grapes of 1815, which sold at Christie's, London, May 18, 1966, lot 33. A set of four sauce tureens and covers by Paul Storr of 1816, also engraved with the arms of Russell of Swallowfield, sold as lot 28 in that sale.
Royal Goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell produced figural dessert stands with slight variations in design. Rundell's album of designs at the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a centerpiece, attributed to E. H. Baily after a design by Thomas Stothard, featuring three bacchic nymphs supporting an openwork basket. A pair of silver-gilt dessert stands of 1810-11, also with bacchic figures set between crossed thrysi, formed part of the Duke of Wellington's Ambassadorial Service and remain at Apsley House (illustrated in N. M. Penzer, Paul Storr: The Last of the Goldsmiths, 1954 , pl. XXXIII, p. 144). Three silver-gilt dessert stands and a centerpiece with scroll candle branches of similar design to Wellington's plate by Paul Storr are illustrated in M. Moss, The Lillian and Morrie Moss Collection of Paul Storr Silver, 1972, pl. 65-66, pp. 128-29. A centerpiece consisting of three dessert stands with large mirror-plateau, produced by Paul Storr in 1810 is illustrated in The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, 1989, no. 131, p. 170.