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Lot Essay
The arms are those of a spinster in the family of Winford, Baronets of Worcestershire.
In heraldry at this period, a lady would not have had a crest. It's presence on this cup is explained by the common practice of engraving a vacant cartouche prior to sale of the item leaving the purchaser to add his coat-of-arms afterwards. This pre-sale engraving may have included a torse for the eventual buyer to engrave his crest and the buyer, faced with a vacant torse, had to fill it by putting on the escallop crest, a not uncommon and almost neutral accompaniment to such shields. There were no escallops among the several crests used by the various branches of the Winfords.
Thomas Winford of Glasshampton, second prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, was created a baronet on 3 July 1702. As he was unmarried he may have given this piece to commemorate this event to a niece.
We are indebted to John Allen Esq. for his help in cataloguing this lot.
In heraldry at this period, a lady would not have had a crest. It's presence on this cup is explained by the common practice of engraving a vacant cartouche prior to sale of the item leaving the purchaser to add his coat-of-arms afterwards. This pre-sale engraving may have included a torse for the eventual buyer to engrave his crest and the buyer, faced with a vacant torse, had to fill it by putting on the escallop crest, a not uncommon and almost neutral accompaniment to such shields. There were no escallops among the several crests used by the various branches of the Winfords.
Thomas Winford of Glasshampton, second prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, was created a baronet on 3 July 1702. As he was unmarried he may have given this piece to commemorate this event to a niece.
We are indebted to John Allen Esq. for his help in cataloguing this lot.