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Lot Essay
The epergne, from the French 'pargner', to save, came into use in England at the beginning of the 18th century and was made in many forms to be used as a centrepiece on the table. The baskets and bowls would have held various sweetmeats and condiments to be used at the table.
Throughout the 18th century ‘chinoiserie’, the European interpretation of oriental ornamentation and works of art, was highly fashionable. The style was at its peak in England from 1750 to 1765. For example, William Chambers was employed to design a number of buildings for Kew Gardens, one in the form of a pagoda. Chambers' plans and views of Kew were published in 1762 and perhaps influenced the combination of foliage, flowers and chinoiserie seen in the present lot.
Thomas Pitts seems to 'have specialised in epergnes and finely pierced basket-work' (M. Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, Woodbridge, 1971, p. 175), and an epergne of 1762 by Pitts, with a pineapple finial similar to the present lot, is illustrated, M. Clayton, op. cit. p. 176, pl. 267. A pagoda epergne of the same date and by the same maker was sold, Mount Congreve: The London Sale; Christie's, London, 23 May 2012, lot 70. A similar but smaller epergne by Pitts, also of 1763, is in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum no. LOAN:GILBERT.689:1-2008).
Throughout the 18th century ‘chinoiserie’, the European interpretation of oriental ornamentation and works of art, was highly fashionable. The style was at its peak in England from 1750 to 1765. For example, William Chambers was employed to design a number of buildings for Kew Gardens, one in the form of a pagoda. Chambers' plans and views of Kew were published in 1762 and perhaps influenced the combination of foliage, flowers and chinoiserie seen in the present lot.
Thomas Pitts seems to 'have specialised in epergnes and finely pierced basket-work' (M. Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, Woodbridge, 1971, p. 175), and an epergne of 1762 by Pitts, with a pineapple finial similar to the present lot, is illustrated, M. Clayton, op. cit. p. 176, pl. 267. A pagoda epergne of the same date and by the same maker was sold, Mount Congreve: The London Sale; Christie's, London, 23 May 2012, lot 70. A similar but smaller epergne by Pitts, also of 1763, is in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum no. LOAN:GILBERT.689:1-2008).