MARK OF BURRAGE DAVENPORT, LONDON, 1771

Details

A FINE GEORGE III SILVER TEA EQUIPAGE IN TORTOISESHELL CASE**
MARK OF BURRAGE DAVENPORT, LONDON, 1771
Comprising a tea caddy, sugar urn, set of six teaspoons and a pair of sugar tongs; the caddy with small cap, the sugar urn with larger cover, both urn-form, on openwork square base, the body with cast applied swags and oval cartouches, with two applied raised handles, the fluted covers with pineapple finials, the cartouches engraved on one side with a coat-of-arms in shield and on the other with a crest; marked under bases and on caddy cap, also with scratchweights 14=5 and 14=13; the spoons and tongs with cast openwork feather-edge handles, the spoons engraved with a different crest, the tongs with the same crest, five spoons marked with maker's mark, in a fitted bombé tortoiseshell case inlaid with ivory borders and applied with cast silver furniture, the handle escutcheon engraved with the same coat-of-arms in a shield, the interior lined with blue silk and silver galooning, the bases of the tea and sugar urns and the silver lockplate of the case all engraved "Jan.y 1772"
Caddy 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm.) high; case 9½ in. (24.2 cm.) long; 33 oz. 10 dwt. (1,041 gr.) weighable silver

Provenance

Collection of Colonel H. H. Mulliner, of London and Clifton Court, Rugby, sold Christie's, London, 9 July 1924, lot 1

Literature

H. H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts in England, 1660-1780, figs. 112-115

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

The arms are those of Bradney with those of Mico quartering Child on an escutcheon of pretence, as borne by John Bradney (d. 1809), apothecary, and his wife Martha, daughter of Joseph Mico, merchant of London.

They were married on January 9, 1772, at St. Mary Aldermary in London, and this equipage, engraved "Jan.y 1772" on the caddies and the case, was undoubtedly a wedding present. Martha Mico was a co-heiress with a at least one sister. John Bradney's death is recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine for March 29, 1809 "At his house on Clapham Common, Surry, aged 77 John Bradney Esq. formerly an Apothecary in Tower Street, London."

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