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Lot Essay
The arms and monograms are those of Sophia Elizabeth Wykeham, after 1834 Baroness Wenman, of Thame Park, Oxfordshire.
Sophia Wykeham (1790-1870) inherited the estates of her father, William Richard Wykeham of Swalcliffe Park and her uncle, the 4th Viscount Wenman of Thame Park, in 1800. As an heiress of noble birth, Sophia was close to Royal circles and in fact was swept up in the famous Royal marriage race of 1818. When Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent, died unexpectedly that year, the other sons of George III, none of whom had legitimate offspring, realized that they needed to produce an heir to the Hanoverian throne. The three unmarried sons all began to court suitable ladies and all married within a few months in 1818. Although William, Duke of Clarence, the third son of George III, had already fathered ten children by an actress named Dorothy Jordan, he courted Sophia Wykeham and in 1818 it was widely believed that they would marry. Apparently however the Prince Regent, later George IV, objected to Sophia, and like six of the seven Royal brothers, he was compelled to marry a German Princess. In 1830 he became King William IV, and at his death his niece Victoria, product of one of the 1818 marriages, became Queen of England.
Despite losing in the Royal marriage race, Sophia remained on good terms with the Royal family and hosted a great fte on the coronation of George IV at Thame Park in 1821. Clearly she remained close to William, who bestowed upon her the title of Baroness in her own right after he was crowned in 1830. On learning this news, Charles Greville wrote in 1834 "The maddest thing of all is what appeared in the 'Gazette' of Tuesday-the peerage conferred on ______. He [William IV], perhaps, thought it fair to give her this compensation for not being Queen, for he wanted to marry her, and would have done so if the late King would have consented." She never married.
It is fitting that Baroness Wenman owned this superb model at Thame Park, as William IV inherited a set of twelve matching examples, dated 1804 and 1812, which remain in the Royal Collection today (illustrated in E. Alfred Jones, The Gold and Silver of Windsor Castle, Pl. LXXX, 1911 p. 158).
Two pairs of candelabra of this model, also by Scott and Smith and with Rundell's signature, sold recently; the first pair, Sotheby's, New York, 20 October 2009, lot 194, and the second pair, from the Al-Tajir Collection, sold Christie's, London, 10 June 2010, lot 360.
Sophia Wykeham (1790-1870) inherited the estates of her father, William Richard Wykeham of Swalcliffe Park and her uncle, the 4th Viscount Wenman of Thame Park, in 1800. As an heiress of noble birth, Sophia was close to Royal circles and in fact was swept up in the famous Royal marriage race of 1818. When Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent, died unexpectedly that year, the other sons of George III, none of whom had legitimate offspring, realized that they needed to produce an heir to the Hanoverian throne. The three unmarried sons all began to court suitable ladies and all married within a few months in 1818. Although William, Duke of Clarence, the third son of George III, had already fathered ten children by an actress named Dorothy Jordan, he courted Sophia Wykeham and in 1818 it was widely believed that they would marry. Apparently however the Prince Regent, later George IV, objected to Sophia, and like six of the seven Royal brothers, he was compelled to marry a German Princess. In 1830 he became King William IV, and at his death his niece Victoria, product of one of the 1818 marriages, became Queen of England.
Despite losing in the Royal marriage race, Sophia remained on good terms with the Royal family and hosted a great fte on the coronation of George IV at Thame Park in 1821. Clearly she remained close to William, who bestowed upon her the title of Baroness in her own right after he was crowned in 1830. On learning this news, Charles Greville wrote in 1834 "The maddest thing of all is what appeared in the 'Gazette' of Tuesday-the peerage conferred on ______. He [William IV], perhaps, thought it fair to give her this compensation for not being Queen, for he wanted to marry her, and would have done so if the late King would have consented." She never married.
It is fitting that Baroness Wenman owned this superb model at Thame Park, as William IV inherited a set of twelve matching examples, dated 1804 and 1812, which remain in the Royal Collection today (illustrated in E. Alfred Jones, The Gold and Silver of Windsor Castle, Pl. LXXX, 1911 p. 158).
Two pairs of candelabra of this model, also by Scott and Smith and with Rundell's signature, sold recently; the first pair, Sotheby's, New York, 20 October 2009, lot 194, and the second pair, from the Al-Tajir Collection, sold Christie's, London, 10 June 2010, lot 360.