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Lot Essay
The arms are those of Anderson.
The design of this tureen may be attributed to J. J. Boileau, whose pen-and-wash designs for silver in the classical taste survive in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see Michael Snodin, "J. J. Boileau: A Forgotten Designer of Silver," Connoisseur, June 1978, pp. 124-133).
Typical of Boileau's style are radiating bands of broad waterleaves, angular handles with guilloche, and entwined snake ornament. A virtually identical tureen cover with snake handle is illustrated in one of the signed drawings at the V&A (Snodin, op. cit., fig. 8, p. 129). The earliest piece of silver made to a design of Boileau is a cup of 1798; this tureen belongs to a group of four known pieces from 1799, including another tureen on stand, a race cup, and the Nile Cup presented to Admiral Lord Nelson, now at the National Maritime Museum (Snodin, op. cit., pp. 126-128).
Snodin has proven that the J. J. Boileau that signed the designs is almost certainly Jean-Jacques Boileau, a French artist who came to London around 1787 to work under architect Henry Holland at Carlton House, George IV's great palace in St. James's. Boileau also worked on the decoration at Woburn Abbey, Windsor Castle, and William Beckford's Fonthill Splendens, where he created exotic interiors in the Turkish taste. Two pieces of silver that closely follow Boileau's pen-and-wash designs remain in the collection of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn. Boileau is also named as the designer of a coffee pot sold by Beckford in the Fonthill Abbey catalogues.
A Boileau-designed tea kettle, marked by Paul Storr in 1802, has an identical spiral-fluted frieze to that on the present tureen, as well as snake decoration and calices of broad waterleaves (illustrated in N. M. Penzer, Paul Storr, 1954, Pl. XVIII, pp. 114-115).
The design of this tureen may be attributed to J. J. Boileau, whose pen-and-wash designs for silver in the classical taste survive in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see Michael Snodin, "J. J. Boileau: A Forgotten Designer of Silver," Connoisseur, June 1978, pp. 124-133).
Typical of Boileau's style are radiating bands of broad waterleaves, angular handles with guilloche, and entwined snake ornament. A virtually identical tureen cover with snake handle is illustrated in one of the signed drawings at the V&A (Snodin, op. cit., fig. 8, p. 129). The earliest piece of silver made to a design of Boileau is a cup of 1798; this tureen belongs to a group of four known pieces from 1799, including another tureen on stand, a race cup, and the Nile Cup presented to Admiral Lord Nelson, now at the National Maritime Museum (Snodin, op. cit., pp. 126-128).
Snodin has proven that the J. J. Boileau that signed the designs is almost certainly Jean-Jacques Boileau, a French artist who came to London around 1787 to work under architect Henry Holland at Carlton House, George IV's great palace in St. James's. Boileau also worked on the decoration at Woburn Abbey, Windsor Castle, and William Beckford's Fonthill Splendens, where he created exotic interiors in the Turkish taste. Two pieces of silver that closely follow Boileau's pen-and-wash designs remain in the collection of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn. Boileau is also named as the designer of a coffee pot sold by Beckford in the Fonthill Abbey catalogues.
A Boileau-designed tea kettle, marked by Paul Storr in 1802, has an identical spiral-fluted frieze to that on the present tureen, as well as snake decoration and calices of broad waterleaves (illustrated in N. M. Penzer, Paul Storr, 1954, Pl. XVIII, pp. 114-115).