.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare and later 1st Duke of Leinster (1722-1773)
James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare and 1st Duke of Leinster (1722-1773) was the son of Robert, Earl of Kildare (1675-1744) and his wife Mary, eldest daughter of William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. He was born on 29 May 1722, and styled Lord Offaly until 1744, when he succeeded his father to the peerage as Earl of Kildare. He served as Member of Parliament for Athy in 1741-44 while underage. On 21 February 1746 he was created Viscount Leinster of Taplow, co. Buckingham, and was made a member of the Irish Privy Council. Two weeks previously he had married, from her father's house in Whitehall Place, at St Margaret's Westminster, Emilia Mary (1731-1832), god-daughter of King George II and second surviving daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and his wife Sarah, daughter and co-heiress of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan. James and Emilia had no fewer than nine sons and eight daughters.
He played an active part in Irish politics and with his enormous wealth and influential family connections soon formed a powerful party, becoming one of the most popular noblemen in Ireland. He accepted a post in the Government as Lord Deputy in 1756, and that of Master General of the Ordinance in 1758, and in 1761 was created Marquess of Offaly in the peerage of Ireland. Five years later he was created Duke of Leinster in the peerage of Ireland at a time when there were no other Irish Dukes. While his principal seat was the Palladian Carton House, in county Kildare, which had been built by his father and where,together with his wife, he created one of the most idyllic landscape gardens in Ireland, he also built, between 1745-48, Kildare House in the south of Dublin. Initially his townhouse was some distance from his aristocratic peers, who were clustered around Rutland and Mountjoy squares but as Kildare rightly predicted others were to follow him. The house, designed by the architect Richard Cassels, remained in the family until 1815 when it was sold to the Royal Dublin Society, having been renamed Leinster House. The house again changed hands in 1924 when it was acquired by the Irish state to become the home of the Irish Parliament.
The Leinster Dinner-Service
The wealth of Royal and aristocratic patrons, the skill of the goldsmith and the inventiveness of design are embodied in the greatest of 18th century dinner-services. The Leinster dinner-service is the grandest and most complete surviving aristocratic service. Its cost far exceeded that of the Prince of Wales' service, and unlike so many others, it has remained almost intact.
The dinner-service was not only the greatest form of display plate but was also practical use. In the 17th century the buffet at the side of the dining-room had been used to show the host's wealth through the assembled arrangement of flagons, flasks, cups and dishes. In the 18th century, display moved to the dining-table itself. The linen-covered table was centered on the great epergne or surtout-de-table. The fashion for dining à la française also called for soup-tureens for the first course and a plethora of dishes and covers for the following courses. The French style of dining created the need for cruets, sauceboats and condiment-vases for the table as the diners served themselves and their neighbours from the dishes that were placed on the table. The diners entered the dining-room to see a fully dressed table and, as the courses progressed, the dishes were removed and replaced. All courses were similarly served on silver dishes, and in the richest of houses with silver covers, protecting the food and providing a visual spectacle for the guests.
The way in which the dining table could be presented was the subject of great fashion and many publication. For example, Vincent La Chapelle's The Modern Cook, published in 1736, gave instructions as to how the table should be arranged in the latest fashion. La Chapelle, cook to the great Francophile Earl of Chesterfield, included engravings, which illustrated the many different geometrical arrangements of dishes.
The Leinster dinner-service is rare, not only because of its survival, but also because its commission is fully listed in the Gentleman's Ledgers of its maker, the Royal goldsmith George Wickes. The entry records each piece with its weight and its cost together with the cost of engraving and, in some instances, the cost of cases and the glass. This gives an insight into the contemporary use for the many elements which were incorrectly identified in the past. Michael Snodin, in 'Silver Vases and their Purpose', op. cit., pp. 37-42, notes that the set of four vases, described in the Wickes Ledger as '4 round boxes', are some of the earliest surviving condiment urns and the 'two ovill boxes' were intended to hold sugar to be used in salad dressing. He deduced this from the items that follow their entry in the invoice, the spoons for use with the vases and boxes, namely 'to 2 suger [sic] spoons 2 pepper 2 musterd [sic] spoons To 24 salt glasses and 12 musterd [sic] and pepper glasses'.
The centrepiece or epergne as described by George Wickes is derived from a 'surtout' designed by William Kent and published in John Vardy's Designs of Mr Inigo Jones and Mr William Kent, 1744, pl. 27. This was commissioned by Frederick, Prince of Wales, from George Wickes in 1745. The form was influential. The same design was also the inspiration for the Bute epergne of 1761, commission from another Royal goldsmith, Thomas Heming, by John, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792). Bute was a great friend of the Prince of Wales, and had served as Lord of the Bedchamber. The choice of this design, first created for the Prince, was perhaps influenced by the family's close relationship with the Royal family.
The service is in the Rococo style which was both highly fashionable and costly. The exceptional quality of the cast and chased ornament on, for example, the soup-tureens, epergne and plateau, together with the sheer quantity of silver used made the Leinster dinner-service the most costly of commissions. Joseph MacDonnell in his article for Irish Arts Review Yearbook put the price into context. The service cost £4,044 which equated to over 100 times the yearly salary of a curate. The service would have been used both at Carton House, co. Kildare and at Leinster House, his Dublin town house.
James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare and 1st Duke of Leinster (1722-1773) was the son of Robert, Earl of Kildare (1675-1744) and his wife Mary, eldest daughter of William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. He was born on 29 May 1722, and styled Lord Offaly until 1744, when he succeeded his father to the peerage as Earl of Kildare. He served as Member of Parliament for Athy in 1741-44 while underage. On 21 February 1746 he was created Viscount Leinster of Taplow, co. Buckingham, and was made a member of the Irish Privy Council. Two weeks previously he had married, from her father's house in Whitehall Place, at St Margaret's Westminster, Emilia Mary (1731-1832), god-daughter of King George II and second surviving daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and his wife Sarah, daughter and co-heiress of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan. James and Emilia had no fewer than nine sons and eight daughters.
He played an active part in Irish politics and with his enormous wealth and influential family connections soon formed a powerful party, becoming one of the most popular noblemen in Ireland. He accepted a post in the Government as Lord Deputy in 1756, and that of Master General of the Ordinance in 1758, and in 1761 was created Marquess of Offaly in the peerage of Ireland. Five years later he was created Duke of Leinster in the peerage of Ireland at a time when there were no other Irish Dukes. While his principal seat was the Palladian Carton House, in county Kildare, which had been built by his father and where,together with his wife, he created one of the most idyllic landscape gardens in Ireland, he also built, between 1745-48, Kildare House in the south of Dublin. Initially his townhouse was some distance from his aristocratic peers, who were clustered around Rutland and Mountjoy squares but as Kildare rightly predicted others were to follow him. The house, designed by the architect Richard Cassels, remained in the family until 1815 when it was sold to the Royal Dublin Society, having been renamed Leinster House. The house again changed hands in 1924 when it was acquired by the Irish state to become the home of the Irish Parliament.
The Leinster Dinner-Service
The wealth of Royal and aristocratic patrons, the skill of the goldsmith and the inventiveness of design are embodied in the greatest of 18th century dinner-services. The Leinster dinner-service is the grandest and most complete surviving aristocratic service. Its cost far exceeded that of the Prince of Wales' service, and unlike so many others, it has remained almost intact.
The dinner-service was not only the greatest form of display plate but was also practical use. In the 17th century the buffet at the side of the dining-room had been used to show the host's wealth through the assembled arrangement of flagons, flasks, cups and dishes. In the 18th century, display moved to the dining-table itself. The linen-covered table was centered on the great epergne or surtout-de-table. The fashion for dining à la française also called for soup-tureens for the first course and a plethora of dishes and covers for the following courses. The French style of dining created the need for cruets, sauceboats and condiment-vases for the table as the diners served themselves and their neighbours from the dishes that were placed on the table. The diners entered the dining-room to see a fully dressed table and, as the courses progressed, the dishes were removed and replaced. All courses were similarly served on silver dishes, and in the richest of houses with silver covers, protecting the food and providing a visual spectacle for the guests.
The way in which the dining table could be presented was the subject of great fashion and many publication. For example, Vincent La Chapelle's The Modern Cook, published in 1736, gave instructions as to how the table should be arranged in the latest fashion. La Chapelle, cook to the great Francophile Earl of Chesterfield, included engravings, which illustrated the many different geometrical arrangements of dishes.
The Leinster dinner-service is rare, not only because of its survival, but also because its commission is fully listed in the Gentleman's Ledgers of its maker, the Royal goldsmith George Wickes. The entry records each piece with its weight and its cost together with the cost of engraving and, in some instances, the cost of cases and the glass. This gives an insight into the contemporary use for the many elements which were incorrectly identified in the past. Michael Snodin, in 'Silver Vases and their Purpose', op. cit., pp. 37-42, notes that the set of four vases, described in the Wickes Ledger as '4 round boxes', are some of the earliest surviving condiment urns and the 'two ovill boxes' were intended to hold sugar to be used in salad dressing. He deduced this from the items that follow their entry in the invoice, the spoons for use with the vases and boxes, namely 'to 2 suger [sic] spoons 2 pepper 2 musterd [sic] spoons To 24 salt glasses and 12 musterd [sic] and pepper glasses'.
The centrepiece or epergne as described by George Wickes is derived from a 'surtout' designed by William Kent and published in John Vardy's Designs of Mr Inigo Jones and Mr William Kent, 1744, pl. 27. This was commissioned by Frederick, Prince of Wales, from George Wickes in 1745. The form was influential. The same design was also the inspiration for the Bute epergne of 1761, commission from another Royal goldsmith, Thomas Heming, by John, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792). Bute was a great friend of the Prince of Wales, and had served as Lord of the Bedchamber. The choice of this design, first created for the Prince, was perhaps influenced by the family's close relationship with the Royal family.
The service is in the Rococo style which was both highly fashionable and costly. The exceptional quality of the cast and chased ornament on, for example, the soup-tureens, epergne and plateau, together with the sheer quantity of silver used made the Leinster dinner-service the most costly of commissions. Joseph MacDonnell in his article for Irish Arts Review Yearbook put the price into context. The service cost £4,044 which equated to over 100 times the yearly salary of a curate. The service would have been used both at Carton House, co. Kildare and at Leinster House, his Dublin town house.