Lot Essay
The inscription reads: "April 3rd 1821, This Box, weighing 76 oz. 10 dwt. has been made to receive a chas'd Medallion, of Scripture History, of unknown Assay, weighing 18 oz. 5 dwt., which is to be added without Solder."
Silver-gilt caskets, and indeed entire toilet services in Charles II style appear to have enjoyed considerable vogue in the early 1820's. For the most part based on the famous Calverley Service of 1683 (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) and others by the same maker, they are all set with cast or chased plaques depicting scenes from classical mythology based on bronze examples of the Italian Renaissance or, as in the case of the present example, with Biblical scenes.
It is often remarked that the decorative panels of putti amid scrolling foliage are derived from the engraved designs of Polifilo Giancarli of about 1625 which were published in London in 1672 as A Book of Foldages designed by the famous Italian Polifilo Zancarli, sould by John Overton at the Whitehorse without Newgate (Charles Oman, Caroline Silver, London, 1970, pp. 17 & 18, pl. 94 & 88-91). Similar foliate friezes are found in the published designs of Jean le Pautre, published in 1660.
A virtually identical casket set with the plaque depicting the same scene as the present example was sold by the Trustees of the Swinton Settled Estates, Christie's, London, November 26, 1975, lot 171. Other examples from this series include another with a plaque depicting the Supper at Emmaus, lot 170 in the same sale, a smaller casket set with a plaque after Goltzius, signed TZ and dated 1599, sold Christie's, New York, April 29, 1987, lot 271, an example from which the plaque had been removed, sold Sotheby's, London, June 20, 1974, lot 125 and an entire service engraved with the initial M and Royal coronet, made for Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George III, sold from the collection of the Duke of Gloucester, Christie's, London, May 6, 1959, lot 48.
Silver-gilt caskets, and indeed entire toilet services in Charles II style appear to have enjoyed considerable vogue in the early 1820's. For the most part based on the famous Calverley Service of 1683 (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) and others by the same maker, they are all set with cast or chased plaques depicting scenes from classical mythology based on bronze examples of the Italian Renaissance or, as in the case of the present example, with Biblical scenes.
It is often remarked that the decorative panels of putti amid scrolling foliage are derived from the engraved designs of Polifilo Giancarli of about 1625 which were published in London in 1672 as A Book of Foldages designed by the famous Italian Polifilo Zancarli, sould by John Overton at the Whitehorse without Newgate (Charles Oman, Caroline Silver, London, 1970, pp. 17 & 18, pl. 94 & 88-91). Similar foliate friezes are found in the published designs of Jean le Pautre, published in 1660.
A virtually identical casket set with the plaque depicting the same scene as the present example was sold by the Trustees of the Swinton Settled Estates, Christie's, London, November 26, 1975, lot 171. Other examples from this series include another with a plaque depicting the Supper at Emmaus, lot 170 in the same sale, a smaller casket set with a plaque after Goltzius, signed TZ and dated 1599, sold Christie's, New York, April 29, 1987, lot 271, an example from which the plaque had been removed, sold Sotheby's, London, June 20, 1974, lot 125 and an entire service engraved with the initial M and Royal coronet, made for Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George III, sold from the collection of the Duke of Gloucester, Christie's, London, May 6, 1959, lot 48.