Lot 103
103
A PAIR OF CHARLES II SILVER-GILT MOUNTED DUTCH DELFT PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE FLAGONS
A PAIR OF CHARLES II SILVER-GILT MOUNTED DUTCH DELFT PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE FLAGONS
A PAIR OF CHARLES II SILVER-GILT MOUNTED DUTCH DELFT PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE FLAGONS
2 More
THE ROCKE FLAGONS
A PAIR OF CHARLES II SILVER-GILT MOUNTED DUTCH DELFT PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE FLAGONS

THE MOUNTS MAKER'S MARK TC OR CT, POSSIBLY FOR THOMAS GILLEN, LONDON, DATED 1684, THE CERAMIC FLAGONS OF THE SAME PERIOD

Details
A PAIR OF CHARLES II SILVER-GILT MOUNTED DUTCH DELFT PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE FLAGONS
THE MOUNTS MAKER'S MARK TC OR CT, POSSIBLY FOR THOMAS GILLEN, LONDON, DATED 1684, THE CERAMIC FLAGONS OF THE SAME PERIOD
The cylindrical flagons painted in the Chinoiserie taste with various courting figures in wooded watery landscapes, with loop handles decorated with flowers and foliage, the plain upper mounts and handle caps engraved with presentation inscription, with flat stepped covers with baluster finials and scrolled thumbpieces, marked on underside of cover with maker's mark only
10 ¼ in. (26 cm.) high
The inscription reads 'EX DONO THOMAE ROCKE GEN : ANNO 1684', The gift of Thomas Rocke, Gentleman : 1684'. Rocke was a Proctor of the Doctors' Commons in London, a society of lawyers practising civil law led by a Dean of Arches and a number of fellows, usually with doctorates in law from Oxford or Cambridge University. In addition there were thirty four proctors or solicitors. Later in the 18th century it became the 'College of Doctors of Law exercent in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts'. It was dissolved in the 1860s.
Provenance
The gift of Thomas Rocke of Closworth, Somerset to the church of All Saints, Closworth, Somerset in 1684.
The Reverend John Algernon Lawrence (d.1900), Rector of Closworth, by 1885.
Sold Bukowskis, Sweden, 3 December 2003.
With Harris-Lindsay Ltd., London, by 2007.
Acquired from S.J. Phillips Ltd., London, July 2007.
Literature
Rev. E. H. Bates, 'An Inventory of Church Plate in South-East Somerset', Somersetshire Archeological & Natural History Society's Proceedings, 1885, vol. XXXI, p. 268.
Anonymous, 'The Local Museum', Somersetshire Archeological & Natural History Society's Proceedings, 1886, vol. XXXII, p. 79.
E.H. Bates, An Inventory of Church Plate in South-East Somerset, Part II, vol. 43, 1893, pp. 172-231.
F. W. Weaver and C. H. Mayo, eds., 'Rocke Family', Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset, 1893, vol. III, pp. 164-165.
T. Schroder, Renaissance and Baroque Silver, Mounted Porcelain and Ruby Glass from the Zilkha Collection, London, 2012, cat. no. 61, pp. 244-245.
Sale room notice
Please note there is additional provenance for this lot.

Brought to you by

Jill Waddell
Jill Waddell Vice President, Senior Specialist

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

The engraved inscription EX DONO THOMAE ROCKE GEN: ANNO 1684 on the lip of the present pair of flagons relates to their 1684 gift to the Church of All Stains in Closworth, Somerset. Established in the 13th century, the church stands today as a Grade II listed building. While little is known of their 17th century benefactor, Thomas Roche (Rocke or Rock), an 1893 biography of Somerset and Dorset families notes “There are some curious Communion vessels in Closworth Church, Delftware edged with silver presented in the early part of the last century by Thomas Rock and Richard Rock. The former was a wealthy Proctor of Doctors’ Commons, London, and the latter was Town Clerk of Wells, in which Cathedral there is a slab to his memory” (Weaver & Mayo, 1893, pp. 164-165). Richard, presumably the brother of Thomas, is not named as a donor in the engraved dedication on the present, however a gilt communion cup with maker’s mark I.S. pellet below and dated 1685, and inscribed Ex Dono Thomas Rocke & Richd Rocke Generos Ano Dom. 1686 is recorded in a late 19th century inventory of the church’s plate (Bates, 1893, p. 219).

More from Global Treasury: The Life and Collection of Selim & Mary Zilkha

View All
View All