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Lot Essay
The Maynard Master
The style and quality of the chasing on the present cup suggests the influence of the "Maynard Master," named after a sideboard dish made for Grey, 5th Baron Maynard (Christie's, London, 22 May 1991, lot 145 and now in the Cahn collection). The existence of this unnamed artist, working in Lamerie's workshop from around 1736 to the early 1740's, was first suggested by the silver historian Ubaldo Vitali. The work of the Maynard Master is typified by putti with distressed or plaintive expressions; spiralled buds, known as "cinnamon bun" scrolls, and wilted lion's heads resting on their paws (E. Alcorn, Beyond the Maker's Mark: Paul de Lamerie Silver in the Cahn Collection, 2006).
The Rothermere Collection
This cup formed part of the celebrated collection of silver formed by newspaper founder and proprietor Esmond, 1st Viscount Rothermere (1868-1940). A report of the impending auction of the collection in The Times of 20 November 1941 observed that 'Connoisseurs have long known of the late Lord Rothermere's collection of pictures by old masters and his magnificent assemblage of decorative furniture, but few had suspected his love of old English silver.' The sale achieved a total of £29,212.
The style and quality of the chasing on the present cup suggests the influence of the "Maynard Master," named after a sideboard dish made for Grey, 5th Baron Maynard (Christie's, London, 22 May 1991, lot 145 and now in the Cahn collection). The existence of this unnamed artist, working in Lamerie's workshop from around 1736 to the early 1740's, was first suggested by the silver historian Ubaldo Vitali. The work of the Maynard Master is typified by putti with distressed or plaintive expressions; spiralled buds, known as "cinnamon bun" scrolls, and wilted lion's heads resting on their paws (E. Alcorn, Beyond the Maker's Mark: Paul de Lamerie Silver in the Cahn Collection, 2006).
The Rothermere Collection
This cup formed part of the celebrated collection of silver formed by newspaper founder and proprietor Esmond, 1st Viscount Rothermere (1868-1940). A report of the impending auction of the collection in The Times of 20 November 1941 observed that 'Connoisseurs have long known of the late Lord Rothermere's collection of pictures by old masters and his magnificent assemblage of decorative furniture, but few had suspected his love of old English silver.' The sale achieved a total of £29,212.