Old silver-work: chiefly English from the XVth to the XVIIIth centuries; a catalogue of the unique loan collection exhibited in 1902 at St. James's Court, London..

Front matter

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Preface

K) HE thanks of all lovers of old silver-work are due to Mrs. Adair, Mrs. Burns, and

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Mrs. L. V. Harcourt, but for whose energy and liberality the present volume SO could not have been produced. It illustrates a collection of plate exhibited to the public at St. James’s Court, Buckingham Gate, during July, 1902. The collection was brought together in aid of a charity dear to our King; and the invitations to lend were often responded to at great inconvenience, but with a heartiness almost unprecedented. To Lt.-Colonel Lyons, and Mr. Percy Macquoid, also Messrs. Garrard and Messrs. Carrington, and especially to Mr. Lionel Crichton, of Messrs. Crichton Bros., thanks are due for the valuable assistance they rendered. The result of the combined work of these ladies and experts was to bring together a collection superior in several important respects to any hitherto seen.

The present work may be regarded as supplementary to that published by the Burlington Fine Arts Club two years ago, which helped so much to induce an appreciation of old English silver. The objects shown in the Burlington Club volume were, it will be remembered, confined to silver-work earlier than the eighteenth century, while in this the illustration of the silversmith’s art extends from the sixteenth century almost to the beginning of the reign of her late Majesty Queen Victoria. Again, the previous collection was contributed largely by colleges and corporations, and especially by collectors who were members of the Club; that now illustrated was, on the contrary, almost entirely contributed from the plate-chests of the English aristocracy.

Chief in respect of the number and beauty of the specimens it included, was the collection made by Herr Gutmann of Berlin and now the property of Mr. Pierpont Morgan, which was then seen in England for the first time. It comprises a large number of che/s-d’ euvre of the Renaissance, produced principally in Augsburg and Nuremberg, the value of most of the pieces being reckoned in thousands. Almost every known type of German silver-work is represented, many examples being unique or of the utmost rarity, and especially interesting as showing the extraordinary influence of German silversmiths on those of London in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

vi Preface

Among the most valuable objects illustrated are the Diana on a stag, which, filled with | liqueur, travelled about the table by means of clockwork concealed in the plinth; the large tun, | the nautilus shell converted into a snail guided by an enamelled Nubian, and the equestrian

cavalier cup, are also especially noteworthy.

Next in importance as a private collection was that of Sir Samuel Montagu, especially rich,in the work of Paul Lamerie, a very celebrated smith of French extraction who settled in England early in the eighteenth century.

Unequalled in magnificence as to grandeur and size were the contributions of the Duke of Portland, whose colossal wine-cooler is large enough for a bath. The enormous salvers with the arms of the Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, the massive gilt pilgrim bottles with the same arms, the great scent jars of Charles II.’s time, like those preserved at Knole, were scarcely less striking objects. Of different interest was the chalice from which Charles I. took his last Communion.

The extraordinary wine-cisterns lent by the Dukes of Rutland and Newcastle, the huge pair of embossed beakers and the incense burner of the time of Charles II. are in every respect unique, and, from their vast proportions, attracted unusual attention. Lord Middleton’s flagons and cups are also of matchless quality, while the unique porringer of Lord Winchester, and the great sweetmeat-box of Sir Charles Welby, would each fetch thousands of pounds in the present temper of collectors. Among the enormous Monteiths was one lent by Lord Burton, while two massive equestrian groups were contributed by the Duke of Abercorn.

In the two central cases of the Jewel Room were smaller, but even more precious, gems of the goldsmith’s art. In one of these was the small Tudor cup recently sold at Christie’s for the surprising sum of £4,100. Among the illustrations it finds its peers in the even earlier Tudor cup lent by Sir S. Montagu, and in the mazers. With these may be mentioned the unique St. Nicholas spoon of 1528, and another of rock-crystal, also a fourteenth or early fifteenth-century drinking-horn, most elaborately mounted in goldsmith’s work of architectural design. Many specimens of English Elizabethan plate will also be found of the greatest interest to the collector and artist, several being of earlier date than the examples shown in the Burlington Fine Arts Catalogue. Equally noteworthy are the magnificent Italian rock-crystal and enamel candlesticks lent by Mr. Leopold de Rothschild. There were also exhibited the exquisite ewer and rose-water dish of the time of Queen Mary, belonging to Lord Newton (probably worth at least £10,000), and parts of a nearly contemporary regalia lent by the Earl of Ancaster. Of almost historic interest is the sumptuous toilet service believed to have been presented by q Charles II. to the beautiful Miss Stewart, who was married clandestinely to the Duke of

Richmond; also the clock, mounted in silver, made by the celebrated Tompion for William III., and exhibited by Lord Mostyn. In two of the cases were collected the finest examples of the vii

Preface plate designed by Flaxman and his contemporaries, and lent by the Dukes of Rutland and Newcastle, Mr. J. E. Taylor and Lady Du Cane.

plate exhibited by Messrs. Garrard, Messrs. Carrington, Messrs. Lambert, Messrs. Crichton, an

In addition to these were cases of antique other celebrated goldsmiths.

To enhance the interest of the present wor.

from the strong-rooms of the Dukes of Devonsh’

not be exhibited, have been added. These inc on her betrothal to the Prince of Orange; a g William III., reproducing the great seal of Irela to Cellini, and brought from Italy by the third tributed his ewer and dish of agate with silv

English silver-work extant; and Miss Cockere k, illustrations and descriptions of fine examples ire and Rutland and Earl Cowper, which could ude the toilet service made for Princess Mary old ewer and rose-water dish; the tray made for nd; and the matchless ewer and dish attributed

Earl Cowper. The Duke of Rutland has coner-gilt mounts, probably the finest specimen o

1 has most kindly permitted an almost unknown possession of Pepys, a silver-gilt covered porrin.

I Ny $ fey ger, to be reproduced.

Plate, unlike other objects of art, is brought into daily contact with its possessor; even the most sumptuously worked flagon or cup being primarily designed to minister to a daily want. Though often making a grand display, and in early days demonstrating the owner’s wealth, plate has always ranked with household necessities. Hence it has usually been stored away in strong rooms and chests, and only so much as may actually have been required for use has seen the light; and the rest, obsolete and forgotten, it may be, and rarely seen by its owner, has perhaps never been examined by an expert or connoisseur. The extraordinary appreciation of old silver recently witnessed has brought to light much of this, and made us aware of the fact that a scarcely suspected wealth of interesting silver-work still remains in the possession of the British nobility and gentry. Even very modest households are frequently found to possess a highly treasured piece or two of ancestral plate, and it is chiefly from such sources that the unsuspected treasures, which realize such surprising sums, reach the hands of auctioneers and dealers. Perhaps, if strictly judged, either from the standpoint of beauty, workmanship, intrinsic value, or even relative rarity, the prices paid would hardly seem justified. Yet history is only repeating itself; a similar taste for antique silver prevailed in Rome nearly two thousand years ago, when the elder Pliny lamented that “nowadays we only value wrought silver for its age, and reckon its merit established when the chasing is so worn that the very design can no longer be made out.” No doubt the silver so eagerly sought was that of the fine period of Greek art, the age of Pericles, and specimens that had been possessed by celebrities bore a greatly enhanced value. The names of famous craftsmen, and their principal works, were well known, and forgeries were as rife then as to-day. The enormous prices we have recently seen realized for Tudor silver were more than paralleled then. About £10,500 of our money was paid for a pair of cups by Zopyros, representing the Areiopagos and trial of Orestes, while the small cup by Pytheas sold for £175 P: S pag 9 12) ley Ley) US)

Vili Preface per ounce. None of these ancient treasures now exist, but fortunately not even the civil war, so destructive to plate-chests—which were freely placed at the disposal of the favoured faction, or confiscated by the opposing one—was powerful enough to effect in our land a complete annihilation of works in the precious metals. In those that remain are reflected not only the progressive changes in the habits and customs of society, but the measure of prosperity of the country, its foreign alliances, dynastic changes, and the changing currents of its trade.

J. STARKIE GARDNER.

Lonvon, Movember, 1903.

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RS.

Drive.

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196 Jel, (Eys%, ISO,

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HISTORICAL & DESCRIPTIVE NOTES

CEIEELYSENGEISi HISTORICAL & DESCRIPTIVE NOTES