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拍品專文
John, Marquess of Monthermer
Lord John Montagu (1688/89-1749) was the third but eldest surviving son of Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu (1638-1709). His eldest brother, Ralph died before 1689 and the second brother Winwood in 1702 in Flanders while travelling from Hanover. Lord John then became Marquess of Monthermer. In 1704 he married Mary, daughter and co-heir of the great John, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), by his formidable wife Sarah, daughter and co-heir of Richard Jennings. His mother-in-law was later to write to Lord Stair that 'All my son-in-law's talents lie in things only natural in boys of fifteen and he is about two and fifty. To get people into his gardens and wet them with squirts, to invite people to his country house and put things in their beds to make them itch, and twenty such other pretty fancies' (The Duchess of Marlborough to Lord Stair, Horace Walpole, Letters, vol. 1, p.339). While he certainly took great delight in surprising his guests with concealed fountains and other such practical jokes, his many interests and appointments show a degree of gravitas and erudition way beyond the image of him portrayed by the writings of his mother-in-law and, later, Horace Walpole. He spent time with the Duke of Marlborough during one of his campaigns and later commanded the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and the 3rd Regiment of Horse. He showed great interest in the practicalities of warfare, demonstrated by the seriousness with which he regarded his post as Master General of Ordnance. On a more personal level he created an armoury at Boughton, the Northamptonshire seat he had inherited from his father. Although his attempt to colonise the islands of St. Vincent and St. Kitts, which he had been granted by King George I, proved disastrous, he lost some £40,000 in the attempt, his interest in the sugar trade was sound. A flattering image of him was painted by the antiquary the Reverend William Stukeley (1687-1765) in his memoirs. He describes the Duke as showing '...modesty, mercy, humanity, openess, loyalty and courage' and implied that these were qualities they shared due to their '...similitude of disposition'.
He shared Stukeley's antiquarian interest in Gothic architecture. John Cornforth in his chapter 'Boughton: Impressions and People' in T. Murdoch ed, Boughton House, The English Versailles, London, 1992, p. 23, notes that he undertook historicist repairs of the late 13th century Eleanor Cross at Geddington, Northmaptonsire, and also to Palce House, Beaulieu. His enthusiasm for heraldry and the history of the Montagu family is displayed in the room which is now the library at Boughton. It is decorated with the coats-of-arms of the original Knights of the Garter, Montagu having been installed as a knight of that order in 1718. The pedigree over the fireplace illustrates the descent of the Montagu and Percy families from King Edward I. His delight in fountains extended far beyond the 'squirts' mentioned by the Duchess of Marlborough. He added to his father's work on the gardens and waterworks at Boughton, employing John Topping as 'Engineer & Surveyor of my Waterworks at Boughton' in 1723. His greatest single architectural commission was the new Montagu House, the Privy Garden, Whitehall, designed and built by Henry Flitcroft (1697-1769) between 1727 and 1732.
His marriage to the Lady Mary Churchill (1689-1751) took place in St. James's in January 1705/6 and it would seem likely that the gold cream-jug was a wedding gift. Although the couple had three sons all died young. The two surviving daughters were therefore the Duke's heirs. However, the Duchess was more favourably disposed to her younger daughter, Lady Mary (1711-1775), wife of George, 4th Earl of Cardigan (1712-1790) and as much of the estate as possible was left to her under the proviso that her husband took the name of Montagu. This was laid down in a private Act of Parliament which was passed in the early 1740s. He Lady Mary's marriage to Lord Cardigan produced a son, created Lord Montagu of Boughton who died unmarried in 1770. The Cardigan estates and chattels passed to Lord Cardigan's brother, while Boughton and the Montagu chattels where inherited by their daughter Elizabeth (d.1827), wife of Henry 3rd Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812).
David Willaume
The second Duke's father has patronised the Huguenot goldsmith, David Willaume in the first years of the 18th century. The surviving Boughton House accounts kept by Mr Derits for the years 1698-1704 record:
'2.9.1701 To David Willaume in full for plate £29.15...
2.12.1704 To David Williams [sic] in full to this day £37.8.10'
and those of Mr Antonie for the years 1706-7:
'26.3.1707 To Mr David Willaume for plate as pr Bill & Receipt
22.12.1719 To David Willaume, silver smyth £140'
It not surprising therefore that Willaume was chosen as the maker of the gold cream jug, whether by the 1st Duke as a wedding gift to his son or perhaps by John, 2nd Duke to present to his wife after their marriage. David Willaume was one of the leading silversmiths of the early 18th century and numbered some of the greatest aristocrats of the age as his patrons. A. Grimwade in London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837, Their Marks and Their Lives, London, 1982, pp.703-704 states it to be impossible to single one pre-eminent masterpiece amongst his surviving work. His long career, which stretched from the late 17th century to his retirement in 1728, included a remarkable number of major works. The Monthemer cream-jug would appear to be his only work in gold to be recorded, although his son, also David, produced the Conyers Gold Cup of 1732 (see E. A. Jones, Old English Gold Plate, London, 1907, p. 19, illustrated pl. XXI) and the Walpole Cup of 1739, (exhibited London, Christie's, The Glory of the Goldsmith, Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, London, 1989, no. 78, illustrated).
Lord John Montagu (1688/89-1749) was the third but eldest surviving son of Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu (1638-1709). His eldest brother, Ralph died before 1689 and the second brother Winwood in 1702 in Flanders while travelling from Hanover. Lord John then became Marquess of Monthermer. In 1704 he married Mary, daughter and co-heir of the great John, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), by his formidable wife Sarah, daughter and co-heir of Richard Jennings. His mother-in-law was later to write to Lord Stair that 'All my son-in-law's talents lie in things only natural in boys of fifteen and he is about two and fifty. To get people into his gardens and wet them with squirts, to invite people to his country house and put things in their beds to make them itch, and twenty such other pretty fancies' (The Duchess of Marlborough to Lord Stair, Horace Walpole, Letters, vol. 1, p.339). While he certainly took great delight in surprising his guests with concealed fountains and other such practical jokes, his many interests and appointments show a degree of gravitas and erudition way beyond the image of him portrayed by the writings of his mother-in-law and, later, Horace Walpole. He spent time with the Duke of Marlborough during one of his campaigns and later commanded the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and the 3rd Regiment of Horse. He showed great interest in the practicalities of warfare, demonstrated by the seriousness with which he regarded his post as Master General of Ordnance. On a more personal level he created an armoury at Boughton, the Northamptonshire seat he had inherited from his father. Although his attempt to colonise the islands of St. Vincent and St. Kitts, which he had been granted by King George I, proved disastrous, he lost some £40,000 in the attempt, his interest in the sugar trade was sound. A flattering image of him was painted by the antiquary the Reverend William Stukeley (1687-1765) in his memoirs. He describes the Duke as showing '...modesty, mercy, humanity, openess, loyalty and courage' and implied that these were qualities they shared due to their '...similitude of disposition'.
He shared Stukeley's antiquarian interest in Gothic architecture. John Cornforth in his chapter 'Boughton: Impressions and People' in T. Murdoch ed, Boughton House, The English Versailles, London, 1992, p. 23, notes that he undertook historicist repairs of the late 13th century Eleanor Cross at Geddington, Northmaptonsire, and also to Palce House, Beaulieu. His enthusiasm for heraldry and the history of the Montagu family is displayed in the room which is now the library at Boughton. It is decorated with the coats-of-arms of the original Knights of the Garter, Montagu having been installed as a knight of that order in 1718. The pedigree over the fireplace illustrates the descent of the Montagu and Percy families from King Edward I. His delight in fountains extended far beyond the 'squirts' mentioned by the Duchess of Marlborough. He added to his father's work on the gardens and waterworks at Boughton, employing John Topping as 'Engineer & Surveyor of my Waterworks at Boughton' in 1723. His greatest single architectural commission was the new Montagu House, the Privy Garden, Whitehall, designed and built by Henry Flitcroft (1697-1769) between 1727 and 1732.
His marriage to the Lady Mary Churchill (1689-1751) took place in St. James's in January 1705/6 and it would seem likely that the gold cream-jug was a wedding gift. Although the couple had three sons all died young. The two surviving daughters were therefore the Duke's heirs. However, the Duchess was more favourably disposed to her younger daughter, Lady Mary (1711-1775), wife of George, 4th Earl of Cardigan (1712-1790) and as much of the estate as possible was left to her under the proviso that her husband took the name of Montagu. This was laid down in a private Act of Parliament which was passed in the early 1740s. He Lady Mary's marriage to Lord Cardigan produced a son, created Lord Montagu of Boughton who died unmarried in 1770. The Cardigan estates and chattels passed to Lord Cardigan's brother, while Boughton and the Montagu chattels where inherited by their daughter Elizabeth (d.1827), wife of Henry 3rd Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812).
David Willaume
The second Duke's father has patronised the Huguenot goldsmith, David Willaume in the first years of the 18th century. The surviving Boughton House accounts kept by Mr Derits for the years 1698-1704 record:
'2.9.1701 To David Willaume in full for plate £29.15...
2.12.1704 To David Williams [sic] in full to this day £37.8.10'
and those of Mr Antonie for the years 1706-7:
'26.3.1707 To Mr David Willaume for plate as pr Bill & Receipt
22.12.1719 To David Willaume, silver smyth £140'
It not surprising therefore that Willaume was chosen as the maker of the gold cream jug, whether by the 1st Duke as a wedding gift to his son or perhaps by John, 2nd Duke to present to his wife after their marriage. David Willaume was one of the leading silversmiths of the early 18th century and numbered some of the greatest aristocrats of the age as his patrons. A. Grimwade in London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837, Their Marks and Their Lives, London, 1982, pp.703-704 states it to be impossible to single one pre-eminent masterpiece amongst his surviving work. His long career, which stretched from the late 17th century to his retirement in 1728, included a remarkable number of major works. The Monthemer cream-jug would appear to be his only work in gold to be recorded, although his son, also David, produced the Conyers Gold Cup of 1732 (see E. A. Jones, Old English Gold Plate, London, 1907, p. 19, illustrated pl. XXI) and the Walpole Cup of 1739, (exhibited London, Christie's, The Glory of the Goldsmith, Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, London, 1989, no. 78, illustrated).