MARK OF PAUL DE LAMERIE, LONDON, 1747

The crest and coronet are those of the Coote family, Earls of Mountrath, probably for Charles Henry, the 7th Earl of Mountrath (1725- 1801). His father, Algernon, the 6th Earl of Mountrath (1684-1744) was a great patron of Paul de Lamerie. He commissioned an important group of rococo silver, including a centerpiece dated 1736 (now in the Kerry Packer Collection), a set of four candlesticks, 1740 (now in the Al-Tajir Collection), and a magnificent ewer and stand, 1742 (now in the Gilbert Collection). In addition to the present lot, the 7th Earl commissioned a pair of waiters from Lamerie, dated 1745 (now in the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection) and a pair of sauceboats, 1749 (formerly in the Christner Collection, Dallas). See C. Hartop, The Huguenot Legacy, 1996, pp. 196-230, 364-367, and Paul de Lamerie, At the Sign of the Golden Ball, 1990, p. 133-135.