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Lot Essay
John Carmichael, 3rd Earl of Hyndford was the son of James, 2nd Earl and Lady Elizabeth Maitland, only daughter of John, 5th Earl of Lauderdale. He succeeded to his father's estates on 16 August 1737 and was chosen a representative peer in 1738 and on four subsequent occasions. Following the invasion of Silesia by the new King of Prussia, Frederick II, Hyndford was selected by King George II of England to act as envoy extraordinaire and plenipotentiary to mediate between Frederick and Queen Maria Theresa of Austria. A treaty, which owed much to Hyndford's patience and persistence, was eventually signed at Breslau on 11 June, 1742.
In 1744 he was sent on a special mission to Russia where his work culminated in the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle. He eventually left Moscow in 1749 and was subsequently sworn a privy councillor and appointed one of the lords of the bedchamber. In 1752 he was sent as ambassador to Vienna where he remained till 1764. He died in 1767. He married first, in 1732, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Admiral Cloudesley Shovell and widow of the first Lord Romney and secondly, in 1756, Jean, daughter of Benjamin Vigor. An only son from the first marriage died in infancy and the earldom passed to his cousin but became extinct in 1817.
According to the Gentleman's Magazine of June 1742, 'his Prussian Majesty, at a grand Entertainment, which he gave to all his general Officers on the Conclusion of the Treaty (of Breslau)... highly applauded the conduct of the Earl of Hyndford in this Negotiation'. For his services, the Earl of Hyndford was invested with the insignia of a Knight of the Thistle. The investiture was carried out by the King of Prussia on August 29th at the request of George II and followed very specific instructions laid down by the English monarch as to how it was to be performed.
In addition, according to an account of Frederick's life written in German in 1758, there was a rumour current that 'the Monarch had given Lord Hindford (sic) a valuable silver service for his exceptional merits in the whole Silesian Affair after his return from Breslau, as well as the addition of the Silesian Eagle and motto pro bono merito, to his coat-of-arms for him and his descendents. But (the author adds) to date I cannot confirm this'. (Heldengeschicte, Staats und Lebensgeschichte Friedrichs des Andern, Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1758, vol.2, p.762)
The rumour that Frederick had given Hyndford a silver service was repeated, a century later, by Thomas Carlyle in his life of Frederick the Great and also in the Dictionary of National Biography, published in 1908. A previously unpublished eight page bill from Lieberkühn lists both charges to, and payments by, the Earl of Hyndford. It is very extensive, listing over 50 differing types of object, often in sets, which were purchased for a total of nearly 12,500 thalers. In addition to English silver being sent for melting, there are three large cash payments accounting for well over half the total. It may be that these cash payments were in part gifts from Frederick although the latter was not known for such generosity and there is no documentary evidence to indicate this. Certainly, Hyndford seems to have been the model of probity and in frequent letters to London he complains of attempts by the Prussians to bribe him during the pre-Treaty negotiations.
The basket itself is clearly copied from an English prototype. Around 1731, Paul De Lamerie is known to have made possibly as many as twelve baskets of this type and other English makers also used this distinctive form. It may well be that Hyndford owned such a basket by Lamerie and Lieberkühn and his engraver - possibly a Mons. Barbiez mentioned in the account as carrying out such work - just made a direct copy of it. This may perhaps be indicated by a reference in the account to 'Einen korb neu sieden und zu polliren' (One basket newly to anneal and to polish) which seems likely to apply to an existing basket in Hyndford's collection. It is also perhaps significant that the metal used by Lieberkühn is of 15 Lot standard, which approximates to close to Britannia Standard, which Lamerie might well have used. Then again, Hyndford may just have requested the basket be made in high standard silver so that, in future, he would not have trouble when importing it into England or trading it in there.
Hyndford certainly owned a set of four Régence-style candlesticks by Lamerie, hallmarked for 1733, but engraved with his arms incorporating the Silesian eagle which were presumably added post-1742 (these candlesticks were sold by Sotheby's New York, 21 October 1998, lot 91 and are illustrated by V. Brett, The Sotheby's Directory of Silver, London, 1986, p.174, no.704). Hyndford is also known to have bought an English gold snuff-box which is chased with his arms as a viscount. Although the box is unmarked, the superb chasing is by the German, Augustin Heckel (1701-1767) and dates from circa 1730. It is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (V&A 61-1871. Illustrated and discussed by R. Edgcumbe, The Art of the Gold Chaser in Eighteenth Century London, O.U.P, 2001, p. 62, fig. 43).
However, there is an alternative explanation. It is known that one of the Lieberkühn family came to England in 1740. On 5th July 1740, King Frederick of Prussia replied in French to this Lieberkühn, 'I have received your English letter. See that you do not make poor use of your time, it will suit you to make a little tour of Paris, where you will examine with care everything that has to do with your studies. Towards the end of November you should return to Berlin' (F. Sarre, Die Berliner Goldschmiede-Zunft, Berlin, 1895. pp.94-5. We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Winfried Baer for drawing our attention to this reference). It would seem highly probable that Lieberkühn's studies in England would have resulted in him visiting the workshop of Paul de Lamerie. The silversmith was indeed at the peak of his career. It is also perfectly possible that de Lamerie might have allowed him to copy old designs for a type of basket, which, at the very height of the English rococo in silver, was already passé.
The subsequent history of the Hyndford silver is complicated and no other piece from the service purchased by the 3rd Earl from Lieberkühn appears to have, as yet, come to light. In 1817, when the earldom became extinct, property passed to various collateral branches including the Carmichael-Anstruther, Gibson-Carmichael and the Nisbet families.
'The collection of paintings, gems and curios made by the 3rd Earl of Hyndford,' was inherited by Jane Vigor, sister of Archibald V. Nisbet of Carfin and niece of the 6th and last Earl (A. W. Hughes Clarke ed., The Nisbets of Carfin, Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, 1916/17, Fifth Series, vol. 2, p. 47). Jane Vigor married, at Mauldslie Castle, in 1812, Colonel Thomas Gordon of Harperfield in Lanarkshire who died in 1832.
Their eldest son, Major General, Sir John William Gordon (1814-1870) inherited jointly, with his brother, Hamilton and sole-surviving sister, Amelia-Jane, Mauldslie Castle and Carfin from their uncle, Archibald, and both houses were subsequently sold. Major-General Gordon was badly wounded during the Crimean War and eventually committed suicide while staying with his sister and brother-in-law, Col. Frederick Hutchinson, in 1870. They in turn left several pieces of Hyndford silver, including the basket, to their daughter, Edith Shute who died aged 97 in 1952. The basket was subsequently inherited by her cousin and god-child, the present owner's father.
Jonathan Richardson (1665-1745) Portrait of John Carmichael, 3rd Earl of Hyndford (1701-1767). Courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Details of bill from Christian Lieberkuhn the Younger to the 3rd Earl of Hyndford datd 30 October, 1744. Courtesy of the British Library
The Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780). Engraving by F. L. Schmutzer after a painting by Martin von Meytens
Frederick the Great (1740-1786). Etching by D.N. Chodowiecki dated 1758
In 1744 he was sent on a special mission to Russia where his work culminated in the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle. He eventually left Moscow in 1749 and was subsequently sworn a privy councillor and appointed one of the lords of the bedchamber. In 1752 he was sent as ambassador to Vienna where he remained till 1764. He died in 1767. He married first, in 1732, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Admiral Cloudesley Shovell and widow of the first Lord Romney and secondly, in 1756, Jean, daughter of Benjamin Vigor. An only son from the first marriage died in infancy and the earldom passed to his cousin but became extinct in 1817.
According to the Gentleman's Magazine of June 1742, 'his Prussian Majesty, at a grand Entertainment, which he gave to all his general Officers on the Conclusion of the Treaty (of Breslau)... highly applauded the conduct of the Earl of Hyndford in this Negotiation'. For his services, the Earl of Hyndford was invested with the insignia of a Knight of the Thistle. The investiture was carried out by the King of Prussia on August 29th at the request of George II and followed very specific instructions laid down by the English monarch as to how it was to be performed.
In addition, according to an account of Frederick's life written in German in 1758, there was a rumour current that 'the Monarch had given Lord Hindford (sic) a valuable silver service for his exceptional merits in the whole Silesian Affair after his return from Breslau, as well as the addition of the Silesian Eagle and motto pro bono merito, to his coat-of-arms for him and his descendents. But (the author adds) to date I cannot confirm this'. (Heldengeschicte, Staats und Lebensgeschichte Friedrichs des Andern, Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1758, vol.2, p.762)
The rumour that Frederick had given Hyndford a silver service was repeated, a century later, by Thomas Carlyle in his life of Frederick the Great and also in the Dictionary of National Biography, published in 1908. A previously unpublished eight page bill from Lieberkühn lists both charges to, and payments by, the Earl of Hyndford. It is very extensive, listing over 50 differing types of object, often in sets, which were purchased for a total of nearly 12,500 thalers. In addition to English silver being sent for melting, there are three large cash payments accounting for well over half the total. It may be that these cash payments were in part gifts from Frederick although the latter was not known for such generosity and there is no documentary evidence to indicate this. Certainly, Hyndford seems to have been the model of probity and in frequent letters to London he complains of attempts by the Prussians to bribe him during the pre-Treaty negotiations.
The basket itself is clearly copied from an English prototype. Around 1731, Paul De Lamerie is known to have made possibly as many as twelve baskets of this type and other English makers also used this distinctive form. It may well be that Hyndford owned such a basket by Lamerie and Lieberkühn and his engraver - possibly a Mons. Barbiez mentioned in the account as carrying out such work - just made a direct copy of it. This may perhaps be indicated by a reference in the account to 'Einen korb neu sieden und zu polliren' (One basket newly to anneal and to polish) which seems likely to apply to an existing basket in Hyndford's collection. It is also perhaps significant that the metal used by Lieberkühn is of 15 Lot standard, which approximates to close to Britannia Standard, which Lamerie might well have used. Then again, Hyndford may just have requested the basket be made in high standard silver so that, in future, he would not have trouble when importing it into England or trading it in there.
Hyndford certainly owned a set of four Régence-style candlesticks by Lamerie, hallmarked for 1733, but engraved with his arms incorporating the Silesian eagle which were presumably added post-1742 (these candlesticks were sold by Sotheby's New York, 21 October 1998, lot 91 and are illustrated by V. Brett, The Sotheby's Directory of Silver, London, 1986, p.174, no.704). Hyndford is also known to have bought an English gold snuff-box which is chased with his arms as a viscount. Although the box is unmarked, the superb chasing is by the German, Augustin Heckel (1701-1767) and dates from circa 1730. It is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (V&A 61-1871. Illustrated and discussed by R. Edgcumbe, The Art of the Gold Chaser in Eighteenth Century London, O.U.P, 2001, p. 62, fig. 43).
However, there is an alternative explanation. It is known that one of the Lieberkühn family came to England in 1740. On 5th July 1740, King Frederick of Prussia replied in French to this Lieberkühn, 'I have received your English letter. See that you do not make poor use of your time, it will suit you to make a little tour of Paris, where you will examine with care everything that has to do with your studies. Towards the end of November you should return to Berlin' (F. Sarre, Die Berliner Goldschmiede-Zunft, Berlin, 1895. pp.94-5. We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Winfried Baer for drawing our attention to this reference). It would seem highly probable that Lieberkühn's studies in England would have resulted in him visiting the workshop of Paul de Lamerie. The silversmith was indeed at the peak of his career. It is also perfectly possible that de Lamerie might have allowed him to copy old designs for a type of basket, which, at the very height of the English rococo in silver, was already passé.
The subsequent history of the Hyndford silver is complicated and no other piece from the service purchased by the 3rd Earl from Lieberkühn appears to have, as yet, come to light. In 1817, when the earldom became extinct, property passed to various collateral branches including the Carmichael-Anstruther, Gibson-Carmichael and the Nisbet families.
'The collection of paintings, gems and curios made by the 3rd Earl of Hyndford,' was inherited by Jane Vigor, sister of Archibald V. Nisbet of Carfin and niece of the 6th and last Earl (A. W. Hughes Clarke ed., The Nisbets of Carfin, Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, 1916/17, Fifth Series, vol. 2, p. 47). Jane Vigor married, at Mauldslie Castle, in 1812, Colonel Thomas Gordon of Harperfield in Lanarkshire who died in 1832.
Their eldest son, Major General, Sir John William Gordon (1814-1870) inherited jointly, with his brother, Hamilton and sole-surviving sister, Amelia-Jane, Mauldslie Castle and Carfin from their uncle, Archibald, and both houses were subsequently sold. Major-General Gordon was badly wounded during the Crimean War and eventually committed suicide while staying with his sister and brother-in-law, Col. Frederick Hutchinson, in 1870. They in turn left several pieces of Hyndford silver, including the basket, to their daughter, Edith Shute who died aged 97 in 1952. The basket was subsequently inherited by her cousin and god-child, the present owner's father.
Jonathan Richardson (1665-1745) Portrait of John Carmichael, 3rd Earl of Hyndford (1701-1767). Courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Details of bill from Christian Lieberkuhn the Younger to the 3rd Earl of Hyndford datd 30 October, 1744. Courtesy of the British Library
The Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780). Engraving by F. L. Schmutzer after a painting by Martin von Meytens
Frederick the Great (1740-1786). Etching by D.N. Chodowiecki dated 1758