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Lot Essay
These rare Elizabeth I flagons were donated in 1638 to St Gregory's Church, Tredington, Warwickshire. William Smith, the donor, was nominated sub-warden of the newly founded Wadham College, Oxford by the foundress, Dorothy Wadham. He succeeded as Warden in 1616 and was vice-chancellor of the University in 1630-31. In 1635 he resigned, presenting the College with a chalice and paten, and retired to Tredington in Warwickshire. He died in 1658.
The form of flagons or 'livery pots' follows that of the earlier drinking-pot, bellied on a shallow trumpet foot, which in turn derives from Rhenish stoneware. However, livery pots are larger, as they were intended as vessels for the day's livery, or delivery, of beer; the word livery derives from the French livrée meaning allocation. As display plate their size and decoration indicated the wealth of the household, and some surviving examples, including exceedingly rare pairs, are decorated with Tudor roses and strapwork ultimately derived from Flemish or French pattern-books. A pair in silver-gilt, London 1598-99, maker's mark RS over a device, may be found in P. Glanville, Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 1990, pp.268-269; they are of similar baluster form but are chased with shells and sea-monsters. The more highly decorative examples appear to have survived in domestic ownership while the simpler flagons were considered appropriate for ecclesiastical use and indeed in the early and mid seventeenth century several examples exist of private donations of livery pots to churches for use as communion vessels.
A pair, dated 1598, in the collection of Eton College, were bequeathed by Lady Savile in 1631; another two, 1594 and 1597, were given by George Baker, Lord of the Manor, to Westwell Church in Kent in 1630, and are now in the collection of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Additional examples are in the Kremlin; Wells Cathedral, Somserset; St Margaret Westminster; St Mary Woolnoth, City of London; Minster Church, Cornwall, and Wadham College, Oxford. A silver-gilt pair chased with Tudor roses, illustrated in the Mentmore inventory of 1884, was sold Sotheby's London, 11 February 1999, lot 64, and is now in a private collection. The present lot appears to be the only known pair, other than the Mentmore examples, remaining in a private collection.
The form of flagons or 'livery pots' follows that of the earlier drinking-pot, bellied on a shallow trumpet foot, which in turn derives from Rhenish stoneware. However, livery pots are larger, as they were intended as vessels for the day's livery, or delivery, of beer; the word livery derives from the French livrée meaning allocation. As display plate their size and decoration indicated the wealth of the household, and some surviving examples, including exceedingly rare pairs, are decorated with Tudor roses and strapwork ultimately derived from Flemish or French pattern-books. A pair in silver-gilt, London 1598-99, maker's mark RS over a device, may be found in P. Glanville, Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 1990, pp.268-269; they are of similar baluster form but are chased with shells and sea-monsters. The more highly decorative examples appear to have survived in domestic ownership while the simpler flagons were considered appropriate for ecclesiastical use and indeed in the early and mid seventeenth century several examples exist of private donations of livery pots to churches for use as communion vessels.
A pair, dated 1598, in the collection of Eton College, were bequeathed by Lady Savile in 1631; another two, 1594 and 1597, were given by George Baker, Lord of the Manor, to Westwell Church in Kent in 1630, and are now in the collection of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Additional examples are in the Kremlin; Wells Cathedral, Somserset; St Margaret Westminster; St Mary Woolnoth, City of London; Minster Church, Cornwall, and Wadham College, Oxford. A silver-gilt pair chased with Tudor roses, illustrated in the Mentmore inventory of 1884, was sold Sotheby's London, 11 February 1999, lot 64, and is now in a private collection. The present lot appears to be the only known pair, other than the Mentmore examples, remaining in a private collection.