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拍品專文
This tea caddy is a fine example of the many souvenirs made from the mulberry tree which grew in William Shakespeare's garden at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon.
The tree was felled in 1756 by the then owner, the Rev. Francis Gastrell, and sold to local woodworkers, among them George Cooper (b.1720). Three years later Gastrell pulled down New Place itself in a dispute over taxes. The antiquarian John Jordon recorded that Cooper was a 'poor joiner of Stratford, whose curiosity excited him to work with what little he was able to purchase into toys, such as tea chests, boxes and tobacco-stoppers etc., some of which were prettily carved' (A. Bowett, Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400 - 1900 Kew, 2012, p.158).
A box made from the wood in 1769 and presented to the Shakespearean actor David Garrick is now in the collection of the British Museum, while a medallion, presented to Garrick in the same year, is in the collection of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
A silvered metal-mounted mulberry wood tea caddy by Cooper commemorating Shakespeare, signed and dated 1759, was sold from the Prescott Collection, Christie's, New York, 31 January 1981, lot 74 ($7,150 including premium), and is now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Another, closely related in form to the present lot, was sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 24 November, 2009, lot 353 ($20,625 including premium).
The tree was felled in 1756 by the then owner, the Rev. Francis Gastrell, and sold to local woodworkers, among them George Cooper (b.1720). Three years later Gastrell pulled down New Place itself in a dispute over taxes. The antiquarian John Jordon recorded that Cooper was a 'poor joiner of Stratford, whose curiosity excited him to work with what little he was able to purchase into toys, such as tea chests, boxes and tobacco-stoppers etc., some of which were prettily carved' (A. Bowett, Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400 - 1900 Kew, 2012, p.158).
A box made from the wood in 1769 and presented to the Shakespearean actor David Garrick is now in the collection of the British Museum, while a medallion, presented to Garrick in the same year, is in the collection of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
A silvered metal-mounted mulberry wood tea caddy by Cooper commemorating Shakespeare, signed and dated 1759, was sold from the Prescott Collection, Christie's, New York, 31 January 1981, lot 74 ($7,150 including premium), and is now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Another, closely related in form to the present lot, was sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 24 November, 2009, lot 353 ($20,625 including premium).