Lot Essay
The arms on one side are those of the Island of Jamaica, granted by charter in 1680, and on the other, those of Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres (1752-1825).
The 6th Earl of Balcarres succeeded his father in 1768, a year after he began a career in the army. He served under General Burgoyne in Canada, became Commander of the Forces in Jersey in 1793, and was made General in 1803. From 1794 to 1801, Balcarres was Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, where he suppressed a dangerous revolt of the native Maroons (Complete Peerage, v.III pp. 523-524).
Upon his leaving Jamaica in 1801, Balcarres was awarded 1,000 guineas by the Jamaican House of Assembly for the purchase of a piece of plate. In the same year, the Jamaican Assembly voted 3,000 guineas to be "laid out in the purchase of a service of plate" to be presented to the Duke of Clarence. This centerpiece resembles a pair of candelabra from the Duke of Clarence plate in that both were supplied by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, both were hallmarked in 1803, and both employ similar decoration: figural turtle feet, Indian-head supports, and the arms of Jamaica and the recipient. (E. Alfred Jones, The Gold and Silver of Windsor Castle, 1911, pp. lj, pl. LXXVIII).
The Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica record this gift on October 29, 1801, as follows: "Resolved, nem. con. That the thanks of this house be given to the right honourable Alexander earl of Balcarres, our late lieutenant governor, for his constant and ÿzealous attention to the safety, welfare, and prosperity of this island, during his long and arduous administration; and that Mr. Speaker do communicate the same to his lordship in the most acceptable manner.
"A motion being made, that the house do come to the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the receiver-general be directed to remit to Robert Sewell, esquire, our agent the sum of 1,000 guineas, for the purchase of a piece of plate to be presented to the right honourable the earl of Balcarres, as a testimony of the high regard and esteem which this house entertains of his merit, and as a tribute of its gratitude for the many eminent services which his lordship has rendered to this island; and that this or any future assembly will make good the same..."
On November 9, 1801, the Earl of Balcarres's written response was read before the Assembly:
"Sir, Spanish-Town, October 31st, 1801
"I have received, with the most profound gratitude and respect, the high and distinguished honour which the house of assembly has been pleased to confer upon me, by their resolution of 29th instant.
"If I have been so fortunate as to fulfil those important duties which his majesty had graciously entrusted to my care, I can only attribute my success to the confidence which I have ever received from the house of assembly; and it is my greatest pride, at the painful moment of my departure, that I have on this ground obtained their favour and esteem. "Permit me, sir, to thank you, personally, for the kind and elegant manner in which you have communicated to me the resolution of the house.
"I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, your most humble servant,
"BALCARRES."
(Journals of The Assembly of Jamaica, 1797-1802, vol. X, Jamaica, 1807, pp. 596 and 598, as quoted in Sotheby's, London, February 5, 1987, lot 152).
Lord Balcarres's successor as Governor of Jamaica, Sir George Nugent, apparently did not share the Assembly's esteem for his predecessor. Nugent's wife Maria wrote, "of Lord B's domestic conduct and his menage here altogether, never was there a more profligate and disgusting scene, and I really think he must have been more than half mad." Her journal of August 31, 1801 describes his slovenly habits: "I wish Lord B. would wash his hands and use a nail-brush, for the Black edges of his nails really make me sick. He has besides an extraordinary propensity to dip his fingers into every dish. Yesterday he absolutely helped himself to some fricasee with his dirty finger and thumb." (Complete Peerage, III, p. 523).
This centerpiece candelabrum is one of four known examples all marked by Philip Cornman and based on the designs of Charles Heathcote Tatham. Tatham was one of the leading exponents of the imitative classicism of the turn of the nineteenth century and the move towards more monumental plate. In the introduction to Designs for Ornamental Plate, published in 1806, he wrote "It has been much lamented . . . that modern plate has much fallen off both in design and in execution . . . instead of Massiveness, the principal characteristic of good Plate, light and insignificant forms have prevailed . . ." Unlike Adam, whose "snippets of embroidery" Horace Walpole had so deplored, Tatham's classicism is based directly on Greek and Roman prototypes. "The Works of the Ancients are a MAP TO THE STUDY OF NATURE--they teach us what objects we are to select for imitation and, the method in which they may be combined for effect," he had written in his Ancient and Ornamental Architecture at Rome and Italy, published in 1799.
The design of this centerpiece derives from Tatham's published drawing of a centerpiece appearing in his Designs for Ornamental Plate with the caption "A Piece of Plate designed and executed in Silver for the Earl of Carlisle in the year 1801" (see David Udy, "The Influence of Charles Heathcote Tatham," Proceedings of the Society of Silver Collectors, Autumn, 1975, p. 105.) The three other similar centerpieces by Cornman, two bearing the inscription of retailers Rundell and Bridge, comprise an example of 1806 (illustrated in Udy, op. cit., fig. 163), an example of 1805 (Christie's, New York, April 18, 1991, lot 270), and another example, part of a dessert-service of 1806, which represents an adaptation of Tatham's design by Jean-Jacques Boileau, who also designed silver in this period (illustrated in Hilary Young, "A Further Note on J.J. Boileau, A Forgotten Designer of Silver," Apollo, October, 1986, fig. 6 p. 337; sold Christie's, London, June 24, 1981, lots 22-24.)
The mark of Philip Cornman (d. 1822), who was trained as a sculptor and goldsmith, is rare, appearing on the four above centerpieces, a pair of compotes (Sotheby's, London, February 23, 1967, lot 150), and on a magnificent eight-piece royal communion service of 1802 and 1803 for the Metropolitan Church at Quebec. This service, supplied by Rundell's, was made by Cornman to designs by Boileau and is illustrated and discussed by Arthur Grimwade in "New Light on Canadian Treasure", Country Life, January 31, 1985, pp. 268-273. Of Cornman, who is listed in the London Postal Directory after 1820 as "Cornman Son & Bridges," Grimwade writes that he "progressed from modest beginnings to considerable status to be commissioned by Rundell and Bridge . . .It seems strange that . . . so little silver bearing the mark has survived. It is possible, of course, that they [Cornman and Son] continued to work for Rundell, Bridge and Rundell under John Bridge's mark and that this is the explanation of the additional name of Bridges in the directories from 1820, which might suggest that the royal firm had a financial stake in the Cornman business. Whatever the relationship between Cornman and Rundell's, we can point to a plateworker of hitherto unsuspected accomplishment." Evidence suggests that Cornman also had a personal relationship with Tatham, aside from his obvious familiarity with Tatham's published works. One of Cornman's exhibits of wax models at the Royal Academy included a portrait of the 5th Earl of Carlisle, Tatham's patron for the original drawing of this centerpiece design (see Young, op. cit., p. 336).
The 6th Earl of Balcarres succeeded his father in 1768, a year after he began a career in the army. He served under General Burgoyne in Canada, became Commander of the Forces in Jersey in 1793, and was made General in 1803. From 1794 to 1801, Balcarres was Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, where he suppressed a dangerous revolt of the native Maroons (Complete Peerage, v.III pp. 523-524).
Upon his leaving Jamaica in 1801, Balcarres was awarded 1,000 guineas by the Jamaican House of Assembly for the purchase of a piece of plate. In the same year, the Jamaican Assembly voted 3,000 guineas to be "laid out in the purchase of a service of plate" to be presented to the Duke of Clarence. This centerpiece resembles a pair of candelabra from the Duke of Clarence plate in that both were supplied by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, both were hallmarked in 1803, and both employ similar decoration: figural turtle feet, Indian-head supports, and the arms of Jamaica and the recipient. (E. Alfred Jones, The Gold and Silver of Windsor Castle, 1911, pp. lj, pl. LXXVIII).
The Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica record this gift on October 29, 1801, as follows: "Resolved, nem. con. That the thanks of this house be given to the right honourable Alexander earl of Balcarres, our late lieutenant governor, for his constant and ÿzealous attention to the safety, welfare, and prosperity of this island, during his long and arduous administration; and that Mr. Speaker do communicate the same to his lordship in the most acceptable manner.
"A motion being made, that the house do come to the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the receiver-general be directed to remit to Robert Sewell, esquire, our agent the sum of 1,000 guineas, for the purchase of a piece of plate to be presented to the right honourable the earl of Balcarres, as a testimony of the high regard and esteem which this house entertains of his merit, and as a tribute of its gratitude for the many eminent services which his lordship has rendered to this island; and that this or any future assembly will make good the same..."
On November 9, 1801, the Earl of Balcarres's written response was read before the Assembly:
"Sir, Spanish-Town, October 31st, 1801
"I have received, with the most profound gratitude and respect, the high and distinguished honour which the house of assembly has been pleased to confer upon me, by their resolution of 29th instant.
"If I have been so fortunate as to fulfil those important duties which his majesty had graciously entrusted to my care, I can only attribute my success to the confidence which I have ever received from the house of assembly; and it is my greatest pride, at the painful moment of my departure, that I have on this ground obtained their favour and esteem. "Permit me, sir, to thank you, personally, for the kind and elegant manner in which you have communicated to me the resolution of the house.
"I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, your most humble servant,
"BALCARRES."
(Journals of The Assembly of Jamaica, 1797-1802, vol. X, Jamaica, 1807, pp. 596 and 598, as quoted in Sotheby's, London, February 5, 1987, lot 152).
Lord Balcarres's successor as Governor of Jamaica, Sir George Nugent, apparently did not share the Assembly's esteem for his predecessor. Nugent's wife Maria wrote, "of Lord B's domestic conduct and his menage here altogether, never was there a more profligate and disgusting scene, and I really think he must have been more than half mad." Her journal of August 31, 1801 describes his slovenly habits: "I wish Lord B. would wash his hands and use a nail-brush, for the Black edges of his nails really make me sick. He has besides an extraordinary propensity to dip his fingers into every dish. Yesterday he absolutely helped himself to some fricasee with his dirty finger and thumb." (Complete Peerage, III, p. 523).
This centerpiece candelabrum is one of four known examples all marked by Philip Cornman and based on the designs of Charles Heathcote Tatham. Tatham was one of the leading exponents of the imitative classicism of the turn of the nineteenth century and the move towards more monumental plate. In the introduction to Designs for Ornamental Plate, published in 1806, he wrote "It has been much lamented . . . that modern plate has much fallen off both in design and in execution . . . instead of Massiveness, the principal characteristic of good Plate, light and insignificant forms have prevailed . . ." Unlike Adam, whose "snippets of embroidery" Horace Walpole had so deplored, Tatham's classicism is based directly on Greek and Roman prototypes. "The Works of the Ancients are a MAP TO THE STUDY OF NATURE--they teach us what objects we are to select for imitation and, the method in which they may be combined for effect," he had written in his Ancient and Ornamental Architecture at Rome and Italy, published in 1799.
The design of this centerpiece derives from Tatham's published drawing of a centerpiece appearing in his Designs for Ornamental Plate with the caption "A Piece of Plate designed and executed in Silver for the Earl of Carlisle in the year 1801" (see David Udy, "The Influence of Charles Heathcote Tatham," Proceedings of the Society of Silver Collectors, Autumn, 1975, p. 105.) The three other similar centerpieces by Cornman, two bearing the inscription of retailers Rundell and Bridge, comprise an example of 1806 (illustrated in Udy, op. cit., fig. 163), an example of 1805 (Christie's, New York, April 18, 1991, lot 270), and another example, part of a dessert-service of 1806, which represents an adaptation of Tatham's design by Jean-Jacques Boileau, who also designed silver in this period (illustrated in Hilary Young, "A Further Note on J.J. Boileau, A Forgotten Designer of Silver," Apollo, October, 1986, fig. 6 p. 337; sold Christie's, London, June 24, 1981, lots 22-24.)
The mark of Philip Cornman (d. 1822), who was trained as a sculptor and goldsmith, is rare, appearing on the four above centerpieces, a pair of compotes (Sotheby's, London, February 23, 1967, lot 150), and on a magnificent eight-piece royal communion service of 1802 and 1803 for the Metropolitan Church at Quebec. This service, supplied by Rundell's, was made by Cornman to designs by Boileau and is illustrated and discussed by Arthur Grimwade in "New Light on Canadian Treasure", Country Life, January 31, 1985, pp. 268-273. Of Cornman, who is listed in the London Postal Directory after 1820 as "Cornman Son & Bridges," Grimwade writes that he "progressed from modest beginnings to considerable status to be commissioned by Rundell and Bridge . . .It seems strange that . . . so little silver bearing the mark has survived. It is possible, of course, that they [Cornman and Son] continued to work for Rundell, Bridge and Rundell under John Bridge's mark and that this is the explanation of the additional name of Bridges in the directories from 1820, which might suggest that the royal firm had a financial stake in the Cornman business. Whatever the relationship between Cornman and Rundell's, we can point to a plateworker of hitherto unsuspected accomplishment." Evidence suggests that Cornman also had a personal relationship with Tatham, aside from his obvious familiarity with Tatham's published works. One of Cornman's exhibits of wax models at the Royal Academy included a portrait of the 5th Earl of Carlisle, Tatham's patron for the original drawing of this centerpiece design (see Young, op. cit., p. 336).