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Lot Essay
Sir Thomas Hanmer (1677-1746)
Thomas Hanmer was born into a North Welsh family with estates in Flintshire. The baronetcy, which he inherited on the death of his half-uncle in 1701, had been created for his great-grandfather, M.P. for Flint, in 1620. He was also heir to the estates of his maternal grandfather Sir Henry North, 1st Bt., of Mildenhall, Suffolk. He started his education at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School, and progressed to Westmister School and then Christ Church, Oxford, where he acquired the skills of oratory that were to serve him well in years to come.
Hanmer was known throughout his life for his fastidious nature and always wearing white gloves which, according to his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, even extended to his marital bed. His supposedly unconsumated marriage took place in 1698 to Isabella, Dowager Duchess of Grafton and Countess of Arlington in her own right (1667/8-1723). Isabella was ten years older than Hanmer and said to be in her nature the opposite of her refined and mannered husband.
Hanmer's early political career began under the patronage of his wife's family when he stood for the Norfolk seat of Thetford in 1701. The death of his uncle also openend up the Flint seat to him and he stood for both in the next ten years. His politics were strongly Tory and it is not surprising that he supported his tory colleague William Bromley's nomination as speaker in 1710. He succeeded Bromley as Speaker in 1714 but only held the post 1715. Although he was a supporter of the Hanoverian succession and on good terms with the Prince of Wales he did not feel able to serve under the Whig ministry brought in by King George I. Hanmer was celebrated for his impartiality as speaker but ridiculed by Pope, amongst others, for his literary aspirations with which he occupied himself during his long retirement from politics. His edition of Shakespeare, which he published himself, is regarded as perhaps the least admired of the 18th century. Even though he remarried after the death of his first wife his second marriage in 1725 to Elizabeth Folkes (d.1725) failed to produce an heir. His title became extinct and his family estates and chattels were divided between the family of his sister and a Hanmer cousin.
Lewis Mettayer (d.1740)
Mettayer was the son of Samuel Mettayer, the Huguenot minister of La Patente Church, Crispin Street, Spitalfields. The family orginated from the Ile de Ré and appear in the Denization List of 1687. He was apprenticed to fellow Huguenot and silversmith David Willaume in 1693. Willaume was his brother-in-law having married Mettayer's sister Mary. He became free in 1700 when he entered his first mark as a large worker. He produced a number of works for the Royal Jewel House including lot 49. Other pieces are a cup and cover, an inkstand or standish and a pair of candlesticks, all of 1710, issued to Speaker Bromley and now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Untermeyer Collection, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, includes a set of three casters of 1714, a set of silver-gilt strawberry dishes and a set of silver-gilt fan-shaped dessert dishes, all 1714 and made for the Royal Jewel House. From the same collection is a sideboard dish of 1717 probaly issued to Joseph Addison as Secretary of State. A similar sideboard dish accompained by a ewer issued to Lord Whitworth as ambassador to the court of the Russian Tsar in 1710, which was sold The Partridge sale; Christie's, New York, 17 May 2006, lot 100. Mettayer was also the maker of a wine cistern of 1709 in the Untermeyer collection, another in the Herimtage Museum, St Petersburg, of 1713 and significantly a pair of wine coolers identical to lot 49 engraved with the arms of Queen Anne issued to Speaker Hanmer togther with the present lot. The wine coolers are now in the collection of Eton College.
Thomas Hanmer was born into a North Welsh family with estates in Flintshire. The baronetcy, which he inherited on the death of his half-uncle in 1701, had been created for his great-grandfather, M.P. for Flint, in 1620. He was also heir to the estates of his maternal grandfather Sir Henry North, 1st Bt., of Mildenhall, Suffolk. He started his education at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School, and progressed to Westmister School and then Christ Church, Oxford, where he acquired the skills of oratory that were to serve him well in years to come.
Hanmer was known throughout his life for his fastidious nature and always wearing white gloves which, according to his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, even extended to his marital bed. His supposedly unconsumated marriage took place in 1698 to Isabella, Dowager Duchess of Grafton and Countess of Arlington in her own right (1667/8-1723). Isabella was ten years older than Hanmer and said to be in her nature the opposite of her refined and mannered husband.
Hanmer's early political career began under the patronage of his wife's family when he stood for the Norfolk seat of Thetford in 1701. The death of his uncle also openend up the Flint seat to him and he stood for both in the next ten years. His politics were strongly Tory and it is not surprising that he supported his tory colleague William Bromley's nomination as speaker in 1710. He succeeded Bromley as Speaker in 1714 but only held the post 1715. Although he was a supporter of the Hanoverian succession and on good terms with the Prince of Wales he did not feel able to serve under the Whig ministry brought in by King George I. Hanmer was celebrated for his impartiality as speaker but ridiculed by Pope, amongst others, for his literary aspirations with which he occupied himself during his long retirement from politics. His edition of Shakespeare, which he published himself, is regarded as perhaps the least admired of the 18th century. Even though he remarried after the death of his first wife his second marriage in 1725 to Elizabeth Folkes (d.1725) failed to produce an heir. His title became extinct and his family estates and chattels were divided between the family of his sister and a Hanmer cousin.
Lewis Mettayer (d.1740)
Mettayer was the son of Samuel Mettayer, the Huguenot minister of La Patente Church, Crispin Street, Spitalfields. The family orginated from the Ile de Ré and appear in the Denization List of 1687. He was apprenticed to fellow Huguenot and silversmith David Willaume in 1693. Willaume was his brother-in-law having married Mettayer's sister Mary. He became free in 1700 when he entered his first mark as a large worker. He produced a number of works for the Royal Jewel House including lot 49. Other pieces are a cup and cover, an inkstand or standish and a pair of candlesticks, all of 1710, issued to Speaker Bromley and now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Untermeyer Collection, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, includes a set of three casters of 1714, a set of silver-gilt strawberry dishes and a set of silver-gilt fan-shaped dessert dishes, all 1714 and made for the Royal Jewel House. From the same collection is a sideboard dish of 1717 probaly issued to Joseph Addison as Secretary of State. A similar sideboard dish accompained by a ewer issued to Lord Whitworth as ambassador to the court of the Russian Tsar in 1710, which was sold The Partridge sale; Christie's, New York, 17 May 2006, lot 100. Mettayer was also the maker of a wine cistern of 1709 in the Untermeyer collection, another in the Herimtage Museum, St Petersburg, of 1713 and significantly a pair of wine coolers identical to lot 49 engraved with the arms of Queen Anne issued to Speaker Hanmer togther with the present lot. The wine coolers are now in the collection of Eton College.