MARK OF ROBERT GARRARD, LONDON, 1860, DESIGNED BY EDMUND COTTERILL

Edmund Cotterill (1795-1860) was head of the design studio at Garrards from 1833 and worked for them until his death. Cotterill was responsible for a number of ambitious sculptural groups including the Emperor's Plate each year from 1849-1852. Many of his designs incorporated horses, which he excelled at modelling (J. Culme, Nineteenth Century Silver, London, 1977, p. 96), and were 'often with Moorish or Arab and equestrian themes' (G. Campbell, The Grove Encyclopaedia of Decorative Arts, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 409). The Illustrated London News, writes that the present lot was the last work executed by Cotterill who 'was unrivalled as a modeller of the horse' (vol. 37, 4 August 1860, p. 107). It describes the cup as 'a finely-chased model of a thoroughbred horse, eighteen inches in height to the withers, independent of the ground and pedestal on which it is mounted.'