A PAIR OF GEORGE I OR GEORGE II IRISH SILVER GRADUATED TOBACCO-BOXES

CIRCA 1720, POSSIBLY CORK, MAKER'S MARK I.F

Details

A PAIR OF GEORGE I OR GEORGE II IRISH SILVER GRADUATED TOBACCO-BOXES
CIRCA 1720, POSSIBLY CORK, MAKER'S MARK I.F
Graduated circular, the lift-off cover of the first opening to reveal the second box inside, both covers similarly engraved with a coat-of-arms within mantling and motto scrolls, marked inside smaller box with maker's mark only
the largest 3 in. (7.6 cm.) diam.
4 oz. 6 dwt. (134 gr.)
The arms are those of Roche as recorded on a blazon of arms for Richard Roche of Dunderrow co. Cork granted by Sir Richard St. George circa 1630, Clarenceaux King of Arms 1623-1635. The arms are possibly for Maurice Roche of Dublin and Cork (d. circa 1730).

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Lot Essay

While the maker's mark IF in a serrated cartouche seems to be unrecorded, the associations of the Roche family to Cork suggests that the boxes were made in that town. There are two possible makers recorded in the Cork Freeman's Register of 1641-1741 as quoted by J. R. Bowen and C O'Brien, Cork Silver and Gold Four Centuries of Craftsmanship, Cork, 2005, pp. 181-182. The first is James Foucault, the son of a Dublin surgeon, who apprenticed to John Harris and who was working in Cork 1714-1729. The second is James Foulkes who was a warden of the Cork Goldsmiths Company in 1712 and is known to have still been living in 1727. Both are recorded as making freedom boxes.

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