Details
A GEORGE I SILVER RAGOUT SPOON
BRITANNIA STANDARD, LONDON, 1721, MAKER'S MARK OF PAUL DE LAMERIE (HARE, NO. 2)
With Hanoverian stem and rat-tail bowl, the terminal engraved with a coat-of-arms within a scroll and bellflower cartouche marked on stem - 12in. (30.5cm.) long
(5oz 8dwt.)
BRITANNIA STANDARD, LONDON, 1721, MAKER'S MARK OF PAUL DE LAMERIE (HARE, NO. 2)
With Hanoverian stem and rat-tail bowl, the terminal engraved with a coat-of-arms within a scroll and bellflower cartouche marked on stem - 12in. (30.5cm.) long
(5oz 8dwt.)
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, May 21, 1969, lot 78
Literature
Schroder, 1983, p. 9, no. 2
Exhibited
Cheltenham, 1983, no. 2
London, 1990, no. 23
London, 1990, no. 23
Engraved
The arms are those of Treby quartering those of Grange, as borne by George Treby (c.1684-1742), son of Sir George Treby, the celebrated judge and Whig politician, and his third wife, Dorothy, daughter of Ralph Grainge. George Treby the younger was M.P. for Plympton 1708-1727 and appointed Secretary at War in December 24, 1718, which post he held until 1724. He was Teller of the Exchequer 1724-1727, M.P. and Recorder of Dartmouth 1727-1742, Master of the Household 1730-1740 and Lord of the Treasury 1740-1742. Treby married in 1725 Charity, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Roger Hele of Halwell, Devon, and had two sond and three daughters. His eldest son, also George, served as M.P. for Dartmouth 1722-1747 and for Plympton 1747-1761, and purchased the estate of Goodamoor, Plympton St. Mary, which remained in the family's possession until early this century.
Because of the chance survival of a group of receipts for silver purchased by George Treby II from Paul de Lamerie, now in the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, we have a fascinating glimpse of one man's patronage over a four year period between 1721 and 1725. The first invoice, dated April 25, 1721, contains the following entry:
4 Ladles or ragoose Spoons weight 27 oz. 10 dwts. L 8 - 14 - 0
The weight of the present spoon, at just over 5 oz., suggests that the spoons were in graduated sizes. Fashioning was charged at 2s per ounce, and the engraving of the arms cost an additional 6s.
Other items purchased on the same bill include a "terrine" of 138 ounces and "two Doble Salts for ye Surtout". The total amounts to some L 1376 19s 5d. A subsequent invoice, dated March 5, 1725 lists the impressive toilet service, evidently presented by Treby to his new wife, Charity, on their wedding day, which is now in the Farrer Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Treby was a considerable customer of Lamerie's and much of the silver he ordered from him has survived. It includes, in addition to the present spoon and the well-known toilet service, a sideboard dish and a cup and cover, both of 1723 and now in the British Museum, London, a square waiter of the same date, sold by Christie's, London, November 28, 1979, lot 38, a pair of salvers on feet of 1720, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, a cup and cover of the same date, in the collection of H.M. The Queen, and the famous "Treby Punch bowl", together with its ladle, made in 1723 and engraved with what appear to be members of a merchant adventurers' society including Treby himself, in the Farrer Collection at Oxford.
Treby did not patronise Lamerie exclusively, however, as his arms also appear on a fine kettle on stand of 1723, with the maker's mark of Simon Pantin, recently with Asprey & Co., London.
Because of the chance survival of a group of receipts for silver purchased by George Treby II from Paul de Lamerie, now in the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, we have a fascinating glimpse of one man's patronage over a four year period between 1721 and 1725. The first invoice, dated April 25, 1721, contains the following entry:
4 Ladles or ragoose Spoons weight 27 oz. 10 dwts. L 8 - 14 - 0
The weight of the present spoon, at just over 5 oz., suggests that the spoons were in graduated sizes. Fashioning was charged at 2s per ounce, and the engraving of the arms cost an additional 6s.
Other items purchased on the same bill include a "terrine" of 138 ounces and "two Doble Salts for ye Surtout". The total amounts to some L 1376 19s 5d. A subsequent invoice, dated March 5, 1725 lists the impressive toilet service, evidently presented by Treby to his new wife, Charity, on their wedding day, which is now in the Farrer Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Treby was a considerable customer of Lamerie's and much of the silver he ordered from him has survived. It includes, in addition to the present spoon and the well-known toilet service, a sideboard dish and a cup and cover, both of 1723 and now in the British Museum, London, a square waiter of the same date, sold by Christie's, London, November 28, 1979, lot 38, a pair of salvers on feet of 1720, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, a cup and cover of the same date, in the collection of H.M. The Queen, and the famous "Treby Punch bowl", together with its ladle, made in 1723 and engraved with what appear to be members of a merchant adventurers' society including Treby himself, in the Farrer Collection at Oxford.
Treby did not patronise Lamerie exclusively, however, as his arms also appear on a fine kettle on stand of 1723, with the maker's mark of Simon Pantin, recently with Asprey & Co., London.