BY R. W. WINFIELD, BIRMINGHAM, CIRCA 1850

Details

A MID-VICTORIAN GILT-BRASS AND PARIANWARE FIGURAL CENTREPIECE
BY R. W. WINFIELD, BIRMINGHAM, CIRCA 1850
The baluster stem set with three bearded masks and griffin-sphinx herms, supporting a central etched glass dish and three 'S'-scrolled vine-cast arms, and terminating in a matching drip-pan, on a three-sided base cornered by three shields representing the Royal heraldic arms and mottos of England, Ireland and Scotland, with cameo portraits of Shakespeare, Burns and Moore to the sides, supporting three Parianware putto emblematic of Art, Science and Industry, on a spreading gadrooned base supported by three winged griffins
35 in. (89 cm.) high

Provenance

Christie's, South Kensington, 'The Crystal Palace Commemoration Sale', 26 November 1986, lot 105, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

M. Digby Wyatt, The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century at the Great Exhibition, 1851, plate 134 (illustrated).
R. Ellis Ed., Official descriptive and illustrated catalogue of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, London, 1851, vol. II, p. 639, no. 373

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Lot Essay

This imposing gilt-brass tripod centrepiece in the fashionable Renaissance or cinque-cento style is almost certainly the example displayed at the 'Crystal Palace' Great Exhibition of 1851, by one of the most established and extensive manufacturers of brasswares, R.W. Winfield of Cambridge Street, Birmingham, and Fleet Street, London. When this centrepiece last appeared at auction in 1986 the catalogue stated that following the Exhibition it remained the property of an employee of. R.W. Winfield. An accompanying description, possibly from the Winfield archives, recorded: 'A beautiful specimen of art brass work made by Messrs. R. W. Winfield and Co. specially for The Great Exhibition of 1851. On the base are represented the arms of the three kingdoms, and in panels on the same are poets Shakespeare, Burns, and Moore; the base statuettes depicting Art, Science, and Industry. The whole elaborately chased and supported by three carved griffins. This is a unique art specimen'.
R.W. Winfield received a council medal for their significant number of exhibits, which ranged from fixtures and fittings to elaborate brass bedsteads, and their contribution was described as 'distinguishable' for being both 'tasteful' and 'of the most excellent workmanship'. Furthermore, R.W. Winfield's exhibits, which were prominently placed to one side of the collective Birmingham Court, attracted the attention of the Royal Family with Queen Victoria purchasing a R.W. Winfield gas lamp and bracket.

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