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拍品專文
JOHN FREDERICK SACKVILLE, 3rd DUKE OF DORSET (1745-1799)
He was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville (1713-1765) and his wife Lady Frances, daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower. Born in London in 1745 he was baptised at St James's, Piccadilly. He was educated at Westminster School and became MP for Kent in 1768. His parliamentary career was to be short-lived. In January 1769 he succeeded his uncle Charles Sackville as 3rd Duke of Dorset. His activities centred largely around his local region as he was appointed lord lieutenant of Kent, a position he held for nearly thirty years, and colonel of the West Kent militia for over twenty years. He was further appointed captain of the yeomen of the guard and master of the horse in 1782 but upon his change of allegiance to Pitt he resigned. In December 1783 he was sent to Paris as ambassador, taking with him an extraordinary supply of ambassadorial plate, which would have included the present lot. In August 1789 he was recalled, having been created a Knight of the Garter the preceding year. Upon his return he served as steward to the Royal household, however, it seems he spent more time and energy throughout his career in pursuing his two passions, cricket and affairs of the heart.
The Duke was one of the founding members of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1787, regularly employed men of cricketing ability on his estates, and in his will left Sevenoaks Vine as a cricket ground in perpetuity. He commissioned a portrait of the Hambledon player Lumpy Stevens, the first ever of a paid cricketer, and was himself immortalised by John Burnby in the Gentlemen's Magazine in 1773:
His Grace for bowling cannot yield
To none but Lumpy in the field
He firmly strikes with bat upright
And strikes with his athletic might
Sends forth the ball across the mead,
And scores six notches for the deed.
This may have been something of an exaggeration, but he played for England against Hambleton in 1783 and seems to have Acquitted himself well generally on the field. Unusually for the time he was an advocate of women's cricket, saying 'What is human life but a game of cricket and, if so, why should not the ladies play it as well as we' (F. Haygarth, Frederick Lillywhite's Cricket Scores and Biographies, 1, 1862, xxii). His progressive attitude in this regard dovetails with his many flirtations and affairs, notably with Georgiana, the celebrated Duchess of Devonshire. His letters to her during his ambassadorship to France provide a revealing précis of the gathering political storm, although he does not seem to have let international crises deter him from attempting to bring a cricket side to play in France. That abortive attempt, in 1789, coincided with the initial skirmishes of the French Revolution and the plan had to be abandoned when the Duke retreated to Dover.
In 1790 he married Arabella (1769-1825), daughter of Sir Charles Cope, 2nd Bt., and his wife Catherine Bishopp. They had two daughters and a son. Known as a benevolent and slightly indolent employer, the Duke was considered kind and personable. He was a patron of the arts and a philanthropist, though his personal extravagances often outweighed these considerations subjecting him to occasional satirical treatment in the press. The Duke died at Knole on 19 July 1799 and was buried at Withyham church, Sussex. He was succeeded by his son, George John Frederick.
THE 3RD DUKE OF DORSET'S AMBASSADORIAL DINNER SERVICE
The 3rd Duke's ambassadorial dinner service was ordered from the Royal Goldsmiths, Jeffrey and Jones, of Cockspur Street, near Charing Cross. They had succeeded Thomas Heming as goldsmiths to the Crown following accusations that the latter had been overcharging the Lord Chamberlain. It is rare that the original account survives for a service from this period and it reveals that the Duke ordered come 5,269 ounces in total, considerably more than the usual grant of plate to ambassadors of 4,000 ounces. The grant of plate was made by royal warrant. On the completion of the mission it was expected to be returned to the Jewel House for re-issue. In practice this was rarely the case. Many an ambassador, officer of state or speaker, who were entitled to an issue of plate in relation to their official role, petitioned the government and crown to retain the silver.
The designs for the service, employed by the silversmith William Pitts, are appropriately inspired by French prototypes, most notably the work of the l'orfèvre ordinaire du roi Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723-1805). Auguste's work was known and admired in England. He had supplied foreign diplomats such as Count Gustaf Philip Creutz (1731-1785), a Swedish diplomat and statesman, ambassador to Paris in the 1770s and Earl Harcourt (1714-1777), King George III's ambassador to the French court from 1768 until 1772. The lot is closely related to a magnificent pair of soup tureens and stands by Auguste of 1775 and 1776, which were sold from the Riahi Collection at Christie's London on 6 December 2012, lot 33. It was Auguste to whom King George III turned when he commissioned a magnificent dinner service for his palace in the electorate of Hanover. This service was owned in part by the Rothschild family in the first half of the 20th century and has since been reacquired and placed on display at Waddesdon Manor.
The high standing of Auguste's reputation in England is demonstrated by a letter written by the silversmith Matthew Boulton to James, 7th Earl of Findlater (d.1811), dated 20 January 1776. The great silver manufacturer and industrial innovator wrote 'as I have not seen any of the best production of Monsr. August [sic.] I therefore presume I have seen nothing. His fame I am persweded [sic.] is found in superior Merit because I have heard so many Noblemen of good Tast [sic.] concur in ye same opinion of him - I am therefore desirous of availing myself of your Lordship's good Offices at Paris in ye Spring' (C. Lever, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths of England, London, 1975, p. 84).
He was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville (1713-1765) and his wife Lady Frances, daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower. Born in London in 1745 he was baptised at St James's, Piccadilly. He was educated at Westminster School and became MP for Kent in 1768. His parliamentary career was to be short-lived. In January 1769 he succeeded his uncle Charles Sackville as 3rd Duke of Dorset. His activities centred largely around his local region as he was appointed lord lieutenant of Kent, a position he held for nearly thirty years, and colonel of the West Kent militia for over twenty years. He was further appointed captain of the yeomen of the guard and master of the horse in 1782 but upon his change of allegiance to Pitt he resigned. In December 1783 he was sent to Paris as ambassador, taking with him an extraordinary supply of ambassadorial plate, which would have included the present lot. In August 1789 he was recalled, having been created a Knight of the Garter the preceding year. Upon his return he served as steward to the Royal household, however, it seems he spent more time and energy throughout his career in pursuing his two passions, cricket and affairs of the heart.
The Duke was one of the founding members of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1787, regularly employed men of cricketing ability on his estates, and in his will left Sevenoaks Vine as a cricket ground in perpetuity. He commissioned a portrait of the Hambledon player Lumpy Stevens, the first ever of a paid cricketer, and was himself immortalised by John Burnby in the Gentlemen's Magazine in 1773:
His Grace for bowling cannot yield
To none but Lumpy in the field
He firmly strikes with bat upright
And strikes with his athletic might
Sends forth the ball across the mead,
And scores six notches for the deed.
This may have been something of an exaggeration, but he played for England against Hambleton in 1783 and seems to have Acquitted himself well generally on the field. Unusually for the time he was an advocate of women's cricket, saying 'What is human life but a game of cricket and, if so, why should not the ladies play it as well as we' (F. Haygarth, Frederick Lillywhite's Cricket Scores and Biographies, 1, 1862, xxii). His progressive attitude in this regard dovetails with his many flirtations and affairs, notably with Georgiana, the celebrated Duchess of Devonshire. His letters to her during his ambassadorship to France provide a revealing précis of the gathering political storm, although he does not seem to have let international crises deter him from attempting to bring a cricket side to play in France. That abortive attempt, in 1789, coincided with the initial skirmishes of the French Revolution and the plan had to be abandoned when the Duke retreated to Dover.
In 1790 he married Arabella (1769-1825), daughter of Sir Charles Cope, 2nd Bt., and his wife Catherine Bishopp. They had two daughters and a son. Known as a benevolent and slightly indolent employer, the Duke was considered kind and personable. He was a patron of the arts and a philanthropist, though his personal extravagances often outweighed these considerations subjecting him to occasional satirical treatment in the press. The Duke died at Knole on 19 July 1799 and was buried at Withyham church, Sussex. He was succeeded by his son, George John Frederick.
THE 3RD DUKE OF DORSET'S AMBASSADORIAL DINNER SERVICE
The 3rd Duke's ambassadorial dinner service was ordered from the Royal Goldsmiths, Jeffrey and Jones, of Cockspur Street, near Charing Cross. They had succeeded Thomas Heming as goldsmiths to the Crown following accusations that the latter had been overcharging the Lord Chamberlain. It is rare that the original account survives for a service from this period and it reveals that the Duke ordered come 5,269 ounces in total, considerably more than the usual grant of plate to ambassadors of 4,000 ounces. The grant of plate was made by royal warrant. On the completion of the mission it was expected to be returned to the Jewel House for re-issue. In practice this was rarely the case. Many an ambassador, officer of state or speaker, who were entitled to an issue of plate in relation to their official role, petitioned the government and crown to retain the silver.
The designs for the service, employed by the silversmith William Pitts, are appropriately inspired by French prototypes, most notably the work of the l'orfèvre ordinaire du roi Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723-1805). Auguste's work was known and admired in England. He had supplied foreign diplomats such as Count Gustaf Philip Creutz (1731-1785), a Swedish diplomat and statesman, ambassador to Paris in the 1770s and Earl Harcourt (1714-1777), King George III's ambassador to the French court from 1768 until 1772. The lot is closely related to a magnificent pair of soup tureens and stands by Auguste of 1775 and 1776, which were sold from the Riahi Collection at Christie's London on 6 December 2012, lot 33. It was Auguste to whom King George III turned when he commissioned a magnificent dinner service for his palace in the electorate of Hanover. This service was owned in part by the Rothschild family in the first half of the 20th century and has since been reacquired and placed on display at Waddesdon Manor.
The high standing of Auguste's reputation in England is demonstrated by a letter written by the silversmith Matthew Boulton to James, 7th Earl of Findlater (d.1811), dated 20 January 1776. The great silver manufacturer and industrial innovator wrote 'as I have not seen any of the best production of Monsr. August [sic.] I therefore presume I have seen nothing. His fame I am persweded [sic.] is found in superior Merit because I have heard so many Noblemen of good Tast [sic.] concur in ye same opinion of him - I am therefore desirous of availing myself of your Lordship's good Offices at Paris in ye Spring' (C. Lever, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths of England, London, 1975, p. 84).