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Lot Essay
A group of Irish chased and repoussé sugar bowls and cream jugs with maker's mark IM and Dublin hallmarks have historically been attributed to John Moore of Dublin. Conor O'Brien's article, "Some Misidentified Munster Goldsmiths," Silver Society Journal, Autumn 2001, p. 31-39, reattributes the mark of IM in sanserif letters to the Clonmel silversmith, Jeremiah Morgan. The Dublin Goldsmiths Company records plate received for assay from "Morgan, Clonmel" between the years of 1732 and 1755. Morgan was active in Clonmel politics and business, serving as bailiff in 1725 and mayor in 1738, 1747, and 1750. His son, Hercules, was also a silversmith and in 1754 married Jane Terry, sister of the Cork silversmith Carden Terry.
There is a reattributed John Moore/Jeremiah Morgan sugar bowl, circa 1750, in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. This sugar bowl has identical lion's masks and hallmarks to the present lot. Another chased Irish sugar bowl with the identical mark is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
There is a reattributed John Moore/Jeremiah Morgan sugar bowl, circa 1750, in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. This sugar bowl has identical lion's masks and hallmarks to the present lot. Another chased Irish sugar bowl with the identical mark is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.