Details
A LATE ELIZABETH I PEARWOOD CUP with circular slightly domed cover surmounted by a stepped turned finial carved with ogee-leaves and surrounded by a band carved with a lion, a unicorn, a dove and an antelope, with outer arcaded band and conforming concave frieze, the slightly-tapering cylindrical body carved with repeated geometric strapwork divided by flowerheads, each motif centred by an image, on turned socle and stepped base, lacking part of finial 8in.(20cm.)diam.,overall;10¾in.(27.5cm.)high
Provenance
[Probably] Alex G. Lewis, Brompton Road, circa 1939 Mr & Mrs J H Dent-Brocklehurst, Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire
This lot is sold with a letter from Algernon Tudor-Craig to 'Mr Lewis' dated 18 May 1939 which suggests identification of the circular images in the centre of the strapwork as follows: A bust of Edward VI or Henry VIII when young; A sun [Edward VI or Henry VIII], a cock [Henry VIII], a falcon [Anne Boleyn], a falcon [Marquess of Winchester], an antelope [Duke of Somerset], a unicorn [Marquess of Dorset], and a heraldic tiger [Lord Darcy]. The letter dates the cup to the reign of Edward VI but the presence of Anne Boleyn's badge would seem to suggest a date during the reign of her daughter, Elizabeth I. The three-quarter face portrait which Tudor-Craig calls Edward VI or Henry VIII bears no relation to their conventional images of the coinage. These are likely to have been the only commonly available source to the carver.
It seems likely that the 'Mr Lewis' is Alex G. Lewis. He supplied a George I gilt-gesso pier table to Mr and Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst that was sold in these Rooms, 4 July 1990, lot 103
This lot is sold with a letter from Algernon Tudor-Craig to 'Mr Lewis' dated 18 May 1939 which suggests identification of the circular images in the centre of the strapwork as follows: A bust of Edward VI or Henry VIII when young; A sun [Edward VI or Henry VIII], a cock [Henry VIII], a falcon [Anne Boleyn], a falcon [Marquess of Winchester], an antelope [Duke of Somerset], a unicorn [Marquess of Dorset], and a heraldic tiger [Lord Darcy]. The letter dates the cup to the reign of Edward VI but the presence of Anne Boleyn's badge would seem to suggest a date during the reign of her daughter, Elizabeth I. The three-quarter face portrait which Tudor-Craig calls Edward VI or Henry VIII bears no relation to their conventional images of the coinage. These are likely to have been the only commonly available source to the carver.
It seems likely that the 'Mr Lewis' is Alex G. Lewis. He supplied a George I gilt-gesso pier table to Mr and Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst that was sold in these Rooms, 4 July 1990, lot 103