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Lot Essay
THE DESIGN
It is exceedingly rare for the original designs for 18th century English silver to survive, therefore it is particularly noteworthy that the highly detailed drawing for this model of candlestick, conceived by the architect Robert Adam, has been preserved in the collection of the Sir John Soane Museum in London. Illustrated here, it includes manuscript notes to assist the silversmith in translating the two dimensional design into a three dimensional object. The sectional form of the stem is explained - 'square between these two points only' with the base and socket being 'above and below circular'. However the silversmith, Thomas Heming, has not slavishly followed the design. The ox mask or bucrania on the bottom knop of the stem has been substituted by small floral garlands and the base has been enlivened with the addition of a band of acanthus foliage, only alluded to in the design with light hatching.
THE DUKE OF ROXBURGHE
The Duke was only 15 years of age when he inherited from his father. He completed his studies at Eton College and by 1761 was travelling in Italy on the Grand Tour, seeing first hand the ancient classical buildings that had inspired Robert Adam during his studies there between 1755 and 1757. Whilst in Rome, Roxburghe was painted by the celebrated portrait painter Pompeo Batoni and had an short courtship with the eldest daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Streliz. Unfortunately Christiana of Mecklenburg-Streliz's younger daughter, Charlotte, was betrothed to King George III, thus creating a situation that would have required the elder sister to show deference to her younger sister. This complication is said to have ended the relationship and neither the duke nor princess ever married.
The Duke was a member of the Society of the Dilettanti but he is chiefly remembered as one of the greatest bibliophiles of the later part of the 18th century. The Roxburghe Club, composed of 40 eminent and mostly aristocratic bibliophiles, was founded in 1812 on the eve of the sale of the Duke's celebrated collection, which was initially housed in an Adam designed library in the family's London house in Hanover Square, which Adam redecorated and enlarged in the late 1770s. A payment of £1,500 is recorded in March 1778 for work carried out by contractors on behalf of Robert Adam.
Considering the Duke's passion and his high rank it is not surprising that he became a friend of King George III, with whom he shared the services of George Nicol, the King's bookseller. At court, Roxburghe was first made a lord of the bedchamber in 1767, becoming first lord of the bedchamber in 1796, the same year he was appointed as a Privy Councilor. He was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1768. Most unusually he retained this on his appointment to the Order of the Garter in 1801. On his death from an inflammation of the liver in March 1804, he was buried at Bowden, near Melrose. He was succeeded by a kinsman, Lord Bellenden, as his younger brother predeceased him. Bellenden only lived as the 5th Duke until 1805 and from then until 1812 the succession was disputed, with the 6th Duke being a descendent of Margaret Ker (d.1681), daughter of Henry Ker, Lord Ker (d1642/3), the younger son of the 1st Earl of Roxburghe (1570–1650).
THOMAS HEMING
The Duke shared not only a bookseller with his monarch but also his silversmith, Thomas Heming. The son of a Midlands merchant, Heming was apprenticed in 1738 to the goldsmith Edmund Bodington, but on the same day was turned over to Peter Archambo. A. G. Grimwade in his London Goldsmiths 1697-1837 (London, 1982, p. 543), describes his early work as showing 'a French delicacy of taste and refinement of execution which is unquestionably inherited from his master Archambo'. It is interesting to note that Christopher Hartop illustrates the Roxburghe Adam design for the present lot in his The Classical Ideal, English Silver, 1760-1840 (Cambridge, 2010, p. 24, fig 30) and comments that 'the squareness of the stem and its vertical fluting are, unusually for Adam, French features'.
One of Heming's early clients was John, 3rd Earl of Bute, for whom he was to supply large quantities of plate. Bute was the Duke's predecessor as Groom of the Stole. Most importantly for Heming, it was Bute's relationship with George, Prince of Wales, later George III, that was to lead to Heming's appointment in 1760 as Principal Goldsmith to the King and thus a supplier to many of the members of the court, including Roxburghe. Heming held the post of Royal Goldsmith until 1782, when he was forced to resign after a malicious campaign to discredit him through accusations of excessive charges.
It is exceedingly rare for the original designs for 18th century English silver to survive, therefore it is particularly noteworthy that the highly detailed drawing for this model of candlestick, conceived by the architect Robert Adam, has been preserved in the collection of the Sir John Soane Museum in London. Illustrated here, it includes manuscript notes to assist the silversmith in translating the two dimensional design into a three dimensional object. The sectional form of the stem is explained - 'square between these two points only' with the base and socket being 'above and below circular'. However the silversmith, Thomas Heming, has not slavishly followed the design. The ox mask or bucrania on the bottom knop of the stem has been substituted by small floral garlands and the base has been enlivened with the addition of a band of acanthus foliage, only alluded to in the design with light hatching.
THE DUKE OF ROXBURGHE
The Duke was only 15 years of age when he inherited from his father. He completed his studies at Eton College and by 1761 was travelling in Italy on the Grand Tour, seeing first hand the ancient classical buildings that had inspired Robert Adam during his studies there between 1755 and 1757. Whilst in Rome, Roxburghe was painted by the celebrated portrait painter Pompeo Batoni and had an short courtship with the eldest daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Streliz. Unfortunately Christiana of Mecklenburg-Streliz's younger daughter, Charlotte, was betrothed to King George III, thus creating a situation that would have required the elder sister to show deference to her younger sister. This complication is said to have ended the relationship and neither the duke nor princess ever married.
The Duke was a member of the Society of the Dilettanti but he is chiefly remembered as one of the greatest bibliophiles of the later part of the 18th century. The Roxburghe Club, composed of 40 eminent and mostly aristocratic bibliophiles, was founded in 1812 on the eve of the sale of the Duke's celebrated collection, which was initially housed in an Adam designed library in the family's London house in Hanover Square, which Adam redecorated and enlarged in the late 1770s. A payment of £1,500 is recorded in March 1778 for work carried out by contractors on behalf of Robert Adam.
Considering the Duke's passion and his high rank it is not surprising that he became a friend of King George III, with whom he shared the services of George Nicol, the King's bookseller. At court, Roxburghe was first made a lord of the bedchamber in 1767, becoming first lord of the bedchamber in 1796, the same year he was appointed as a Privy Councilor. He was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1768. Most unusually he retained this on his appointment to the Order of the Garter in 1801. On his death from an inflammation of the liver in March 1804, he was buried at Bowden, near Melrose. He was succeeded by a kinsman, Lord Bellenden, as his younger brother predeceased him. Bellenden only lived as the 5th Duke until 1805 and from then until 1812 the succession was disputed, with the 6th Duke being a descendent of Margaret Ker (d.1681), daughter of Henry Ker, Lord Ker (d1642/3), the younger son of the 1st Earl of Roxburghe (1570–1650).
THOMAS HEMING
The Duke shared not only a bookseller with his monarch but also his silversmith, Thomas Heming. The son of a Midlands merchant, Heming was apprenticed in 1738 to the goldsmith Edmund Bodington, but on the same day was turned over to Peter Archambo. A. G. Grimwade in his London Goldsmiths 1697-1837 (London, 1982, p. 543), describes his early work as showing 'a French delicacy of taste and refinement of execution which is unquestionably inherited from his master Archambo'. It is interesting to note that Christopher Hartop illustrates the Roxburghe Adam design for the present lot in his The Classical Ideal, English Silver, 1760-1840 (Cambridge, 2010, p. 24, fig 30) and comments that 'the squareness of the stem and its vertical fluting are, unusually for Adam, French features'.
One of Heming's early clients was John, 3rd Earl of Bute, for whom he was to supply large quantities of plate. Bute was the Duke's predecessor as Groom of the Stole. Most importantly for Heming, it was Bute's relationship with George, Prince of Wales, later George III, that was to lead to Heming's appointment in 1760 as Principal Goldsmith to the King and thus a supplier to many of the members of the court, including Roxburghe. Heming held the post of Royal Goldsmith until 1782, when he was forced to resign after a malicious campaign to discredit him through accusations of excessive charges.