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Lot Essay
The presentation inscription reads: "PRESENTED BY QUEEN VICTORIA TO THE BARON DE PLESSEN MINISTER OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF DENMARK AT ST. PETERSBURG IN GRATEFUL RECOLLECTION OF IMPORTANT SERVICES RENDERED TO BRITISH SUBJECTS 1854 TO 1856"
The design of this centerpiece is very similar to the Russian Imperial Ascot Trophy, made by John S. Hunt in 1846 to a design by Edward Hodges Baily. The two candelabrum centerpieces show obvious similarities in their massiveness of scale (Hunt's version is 45½in. high), modelling of figures, and twisting central stems. The Russian Imperial Ascot Trophy garnered favorable attention from the press who reported: "It is more than usually spirited, treated with novelty of design, and most elaborately exquisite in the workmanship." (The Times, 8 June 1846, as quoted in Hawkins, 1983, p. 186-188) It is possible that Garrard's requested Edmund Cotterill, their own famed sculptor and head of design department, to model the Baron de Plessen centerpiece after the Baily design.
The design of this centerpiece is very similar to the Russian Imperial Ascot Trophy, made by John S. Hunt in 1846 to a design by Edward Hodges Baily. The two candelabrum centerpieces show obvious similarities in their massiveness of scale (Hunt's version is 45½in. high), modelling of figures, and twisting central stems. The Russian Imperial Ascot Trophy garnered favorable attention from the press who reported: "It is more than usually spirited, treated with novelty of design, and most elaborately exquisite in the workmanship." (The Times, 8 June 1846, as quoted in Hawkins, 1983, p. 186-188) It is possible that Garrard's requested Edmund Cotterill, their own famed sculptor and head of design department, to model the Baron de Plessen centerpiece after the Baily design.