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Lot Essay
The tankard is inscribed: Ex dono Guli. Dodding de Conishead armg. de funct, 23 Jun.Anno 1685 Charis simo suo Consobrino Rob. Mawdsley de Mawdsley. Armg. haredibusq[ue] suis in p.petua ejus memoriam (The gift of William Dodding Esq of Conishead died 23 June 1685 to his beloved cousin Robert Mawdesley Esq of Mawdesley and his heirs in perpetual memory)
The Dodding and Mawdesley families of Lancashire each were granted a coat of arms in 1664, underscoring their early prominence in the region near Ulverston. The Mawdesley family became important landowners in the 16th century, and their seat, Mawdesley Hall, near Croston, was rebuilt in the 17th century. During the Civil War, the Dodding family fought on the side of Parliament. William Dodding may have been the brother of Miles Dodding (b.c. 1642, d. 1683). Robert Mawdesley was probably the Robert (b.c. 1663) who was recorded as Sheriff of Lancashire in 1720, son and heir of Alexander of Mawdesley Hall (William Page, ed., The Victoria History of the Counties of England, vol. 8 (Lancashire), 1907).
The Dodding tankard belongs to a distinctive group of German-influenced silver made in London in the late 17th century. Objects in this group are characterized by fine castings in the auricular style, superior in quality to the work of contemporary English craftsmen. A closely related tankard by the same maker, also with bird-form thumbpiece and feet and auricular handle, was sold at Christie's, New York, December 15, 1986, lot 330. Another tankard with maker's mark WI of 1686 from this "Germanic" school is illustrated in Christopher Hartop, The Huguenot Legacy: English Silver 1680-1760, 1996, fig. 56, p. 250. Thomas Jenkins, one of the best English silversmiths of the Charles II period, made a pair of tankards in a related style, although with less elaborate castings, described by Judith Banister in "The Master Craftsman Thomas Jenkins," Proceedings of the Silver Society, v. II, p. 187 and 191.
SUPP IMAGE TEXT:
Detail, lot 279
SUPP IMAGE TEXT:
Detail, lot 279
The Dodding and Mawdesley families of Lancashire each were granted a coat of arms in 1664, underscoring their early prominence in the region near Ulverston. The Mawdesley family became important landowners in the 16th century, and their seat, Mawdesley Hall, near Croston, was rebuilt in the 17th century. During the Civil War, the Dodding family fought on the side of Parliament. William Dodding may have been the brother of Miles Dodding (b.c. 1642, d. 1683). Robert Mawdesley was probably the Robert (b.c. 1663) who was recorded as Sheriff of Lancashire in 1720, son and heir of Alexander of Mawdesley Hall (William Page, ed., The Victoria History of the Counties of England, vol. 8 (Lancashire), 1907).
The Dodding tankard belongs to a distinctive group of German-influenced silver made in London in the late 17th century. Objects in this group are characterized by fine castings in the auricular style, superior in quality to the work of contemporary English craftsmen. A closely related tankard by the same maker, also with bird-form thumbpiece and feet and auricular handle, was sold at Christie's, New York, December 15, 1986, lot 330. Another tankard with maker's mark WI of 1686 from this "Germanic" school is illustrated in Christopher Hartop, The Huguenot Legacy: English Silver 1680-1760, 1996, fig. 56, p. 250. Thomas Jenkins, one of the best English silversmiths of the Charles II period, made a pair of tankards in a related style, although with less elaborate castings, described by Judith Banister in "The Master Craftsman Thomas Jenkins," Proceedings of the Silver Society, v. II, p. 187 and 191.
SUPP IMAGE TEXT:
Detail, lot 279
SUPP IMAGE TEXT:
Detail, lot 279