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Lot Essay
Joseph Preedy entered his first mark as a plateworker in February 1777 but it is not until 1791, when he entered another mark in partnership with William Pitts, registered first in Litchfield Street and later Newport Street, that he appears to have distinguished himself. William Pitts was from a distinguished family of silversmiths, his father being Thomas Pitts whose mark appears on a significant number of epergnes through the second half of the 18th century. William, along with his brothers Thomas and Joseph were apprenticed to their father in Air Street, off Piccadilly. Like his father he started making epergne from the 1780s, with his mark appearing on one dated 1783 (Christie’s, New York, 14 March 1984, lot 188). That epergne, like another of 1786 (Christie’s, London, 18 May 2016, lot 81), demonstrated that he had already started to move away from the form that his father would have recognised and began to exhibit the neo-classical style which was the prevailing style at the time.
The form of the present epergne developed from 1791, when Pitts began his partnership with Joseph Preedy (Christie’s, London, 12 June 2006, lot 101). There exist several examples, most often without branches which served as a table centrepiece rather than an epergne, but the present example is among the most fully formed of the type with its six branches and the central hanging baskets.
The form of the present epergne developed from 1791, when Pitts began his partnership with Joseph Preedy (Christie’s, London, 12 June 2006, lot 101). There exist several examples, most often without branches which served as a table centrepiece rather than an epergne, but the present example is among the most fully formed of the type with its six branches and the central hanging baskets.