MARK OF JOHN BODINGTON, LONDON, 1701

Details

A WILLIAM III SILVER-GILT CASKET FROM THE MASTER TOILET SERVICE
MARK OF JOHN BODINGTON, LONDON, 1701
Rectangular, on four fluted pad feet, with gadrooned borders, the hinged domed cover engraved in the centre with a coat-of-arms within foliate cartouche framed by a gadrooned border, marked on body and under cover, engraved underneath with scratch weight 50 = 12
10 1/2 in. (26.8 cm.) long
gross weight 51 oz. 1 dwt. (1,589 gr.)
The arms are those of Master impaling Legh, for Sir John Streynsham Master Kt. (1640-1724) and his second wife Elizabeth Legh (1666-1714), daughter of Richard Legh, of Lyme, whom he married in 1690.

Provenance

Sir John Streynsham Master Kt. (1640-1724).
With Crichton Brothers, London, before February 1923.
Anonymous sale [Crichton Brothers]; Christie's, London, 14 February 1923, lot 56 (£307 to Comyns).
With William Comyns, London.
With Carrington and Co., London, by September 1923.
Miss Faith Moore (d.1944), daughter of John G. Moore, founder of the brokerage firm of Moore and Schley, New York.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 20 June 1974, lot 86.
With S. J. Shrubsole, New York.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 19 October 2004, lot 1081.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 17 May 2011, lot 205.

Literature

D. van de Goote, 'Silver Gilt Caskets', Country Life, vol. 54, no. 1394, 22 September 1923, p. liib.
V. Brett, The Sotheby's Directory of Silver, 1600-1940, London,1986, illus. p. 151, no. 569.

Exhibited

London, 25 Park Lane, W.1, Loan Exhibition of Old English Plate, 1929, part of no. 345, Miss Faith Moore.

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

SIR JOHN STREYNSHAM MASTER KT.
John Master was the eighth son of Richard Master of East Langdon, Kent and his wife, Anne, eldest daughter of Sir John Oxenden of Dene, Kent. The Masters and Oxendens were established Kent families who were involved from an early stage with the East India Company. Sir John Master entered the Company's service in 1659 and in 1670 successfully defended Suratt against Sevagee and his army with a small garrison. In 1675, he was appointed to the Governorship of Madras and during his office greatly extended the Company's trade and founded the Fort Church of St. Mary's at Madras, the first English Church in India.

He married firstly Diana, daughter of Sir Thomas Bendyshe of Brumsted, Essex, in 1672 and secondly Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Legh of Lyme, Cheshire in 1690. In 1692, Master purchased the Codnor Park estate in Derbyshire and held prominent positions in that area, including High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1711.

JOHN BODINGTON
Having become free in 1688, Bodington produced work of very high quality. Among his grandest works are a pair of chandeliers of 1703/4, made for Henry Grey, Earl of Kent (d.1741), sold Christie's, London, 17 June 1973, lot 48 and a pair of silver-gilt pilgrim bottles of 1699 from the collection of the Dukes of Newcastle, sold Christie's, London, 7 June 1921, lot 71. He also produced a large quantity of fine flagons and alms dishes.

Bodington is known to have worked for the goldsmith-banker, Sir Richard Hoare and although he was English he was well aware of the innovations bought to London by the French Huguenot silversmiths. He produced a pair of wine-coolers, circa 1710, engraved with the arms of Mathew Forde of Seaforde (see lots 153-155), sold Christie's London, 15 June 2004, lot 109, which are identical to a pair by the Huguenot silversmith David Willaume, of 1698-99, in the collection of the Dukes of Devonshire at Chatsworth, the earliest recorded London-made single-bottle wine-coolers. Perhaps his rarest work is the gold beaker for presentation to Lady Rushout, wife of Sir James Rushout, 1st Bt. (d.1698), King William III's Ambassador to Turkey, by the Levant Company, sold Christie's, London, 20 November 2001, lot 13.

A pair of silver-gilt two-handled covered bowls and a pin cushion from the same toilet service as the present lot, also by John Bodington, 1699 and 1700, were sold Christie's, London, 24 November 1971, lot 48 and 17 November 2009, lot 231. The perfume bottles from the service were in the Irwin Untermyer collection until given to the Metropolitan Museum, New York in 1970, and they were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Silver: The Wealth of a Nation, 15 May 2012 – 20 January 2013. A similar toilet service by Bodington, dated 1699 and made for the wife of Sir John Button, 4th Bt. (after 1622-1712) was sold Christie's, London, 7 June 2011, lot 284.

Sir Streynsham Master (1640-1724), attributed to Charles D'Agar, 1714. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

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