MARK OF ROBERT KING, LONDON, 1681

Details

A Charles II gold trefid spoon
mark of Robert King, London, 1681
With oval bowl, the flat handle with trefid end, the reverse of bowl engraved with a coat-of-arms and crest within foliage mantling, marked on reverse of handle
5¾in. (14.6cm.) long
1oz. (38gr.)

Provenance

Colonel John Romsey (d.1689) and his wife Elizabeth (1641-1697), widow of Sir Hugh Smith, 1st Bt. (1632-1680) and thence by descent to her son by her first marriage
Sir John Smith, 2nd Bt. (1659-1726) and thence by descent to his son
Sir John Smith, 3rd and last Bt. (1699-1741) and thence by descent to his sister and co-heir
Florence (1701-1767) and her 2nd husband Jarrit Smith, later 1st Bt. of Long Ashton of the 2nd creation, and thence by descent to
A Lady; Sotheby's London, 25 July 1935, lot 38 (£245)
Sir Andrew Noble, Bt., K.C.M.G., John Noble Esq. and Michael Noble; Christie's London, 28 March 1962, lot 71 (£1,450 to Lumley)
Nathaniel Mayer Victor, 3rd Baron Rothschild (1910-1990)

Literature

A. Grimwade, "A New List of Old English Gold Plate", The Connoisseur, 1951, pt. I, p. 81, illustrated p. 79
Christie's Review of the Season, London, 1961-62, p. 32
T. Schroder, "English Gold", The Handbook of the Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 1985, p. 9, illustrated fig. 1
M. Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, Woodbridge, 1985, p. 382, illustrated fig. 558a.

Exhibited

London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1997-2000

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. On occasion Christie's has a direct financial interest in lots consigned for sale. This interest may include guaranteeing a minimum price to the consignor of property or making an advance to the consigned property. Such property is offered subject to a reserve. This is such a lot.

Lot Essay

Romsey had been a colonel in Cromwell's army but is chiefly remembered for being one of the Rye House Plot conspirators. In the Spring of 1683 it was alleged that William, Baron Howard, Arthur, Earl of Essex, Algernon Sidney, Lord William Russell, Sir Thomas Armstrong, Robert Ferguson and others planned to murder King Charles II and the Duke of York, later King James II, on their was back to London from Newmarket. Another of the group, Richard Rumbold (d.1685), who had also fought with Cromwell, had married the widow of a maltster and it was at their place of business, The Rye House, near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire that they planned to attack the Royal party with forty men. It was through Rumbold that Romsey became involved with the group. The conspirators were betrayed by Howard. Russell, Sidney and Armstrong were each tried, convicted and beheaded. Essex is thought to have committed suicide while imprisoned in the Tower. Romsey together with Howard gave evidence against their fellow plotters and escaped prosecution. He later gave evidence against the London Alderman, Henry Cornish (d.1685), and it was his testimony, together with that of Richard Goodenough, that led to Cornish's trial and subsequent execution in 1685.

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