MARK OF PAUL STORR, LONDON, 1806

Details

A PAIR OF GEORGE III SILVER ENTREE DISHES AND COVERS FROM THE HAMILTON SERVICE
MARK OF PAUL STORR, LONDON, 1806
Each plain octagonal with gadrooned rim with rocaille and acanthus scrolls motifs at intervals, the high-domed covers with gadrooned borders and reeded acanthus scroll handle, engraved on the dishes with the Royal Badge, Garter motto and crown and slightly later with the Hamilton crest and duke's coronet, the covers engraved with the Royal Arms and a coat-of-arms with duke's coronet above, marked under bases, in covers, and on nuts, the finials and covers stamped with workshop numbers 11 and 13
13 in. (33 cm.) wide
152 oz. 7 dwt. (4,740 gr.)
The arms are those of King George III (1760-1820) of Great Britain and Ireland and for Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, 7th Duke of Brandon K.G. (1767-1852), of Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire.

Provenance

Granted to Alexander, Marquess of Douglas, later 10th Duke of Hamilton K.G. (1767-1852), as King George III's Ambassador to Russia, then by descent to his grandson,
William Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton (1845-1895), of Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire.
The Trustees of his Grace the Duke of Hamilton; Christie's, London, 4 November 1919, lot 31.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 28 April 1992, lot 185.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Harry Williams-Bulkeley International Head of Silver Department

hwilliams-bulkeley@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2666

Lot Essay

THE HAMILTON SERVICE
The Hamilton Service, one of the great Storr dinner services, was commissioned for the 10th Duke of Hamilton as his ambassadorial plate on his appointment to the court of St. Petersburg on 28 May 1806. A significant portion of the service, comprising some 278 pieces, weighing 9,513 oz., was dispersed by Christie's in 1919. A set of triangular dishes in an American private collection and illustrated in M. Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, Woodbridge, 1985, cover and pl. 74. A pair of entrée dishes were sold Christie's, New York 26 October 1986, lot 611 and a pair of sauce tureens, Christie's, New York, 20 October 1990, lot 174.

ALEXANDER, 10TH DUKE OF HAMILTON
Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton, born in 1767, was the premier peer in the Peerage of Scotland and Hereditary Keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. His early travels in Italy instilled in him a great love of art and he became a prodigious collector. He entered politics in 1802 as a Whig, but as it was remarked in The Complete Peerage, '...timidity and variableness of temperament prevented his rendering much service to, or being much relied on by his Party... with a great predisposition to over estimate the importance of ancient birth... he well deserved to be considered the proudest man in England'. The Duke was appointed a Knight of the Garter in 1826 and was Lord High Steward at the coronations of King William IV and Queen Victoria. He married in 1810 Susan Euphemia, daughter and heir of the great collector William Beckford, described by Lord Malmesbury as '... one of the handsomest women of her time', Memoirs of an ex-Minister, London, 1855, p. 487. Lord Lamington in The Days of the Dandies wrote of the Duke, 'Never was such a magnifico as the 10th Duke, the Ambassador to the Empress Catherine; when I knew him he was very old but held himself straight as any Grenadier'. Lady Stafford mentions '... his great coat, long Queue and Fingers cover'd with gold Rings'.

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