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Lot 321
A GEORGE I SILVER SEAL-BOX
MARK OF FRANCIS GARTHORNE, LONDON, 1725, THE ENGRAVING ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN ROLLOS
Closed10 June 2010
Price Realised
GBP 17,500
More Information
Specialist note
The engraving of the Royal arms on the present seal-box can be compared to other engraving from the first quarter of the 18th century. See for example the arms of Wentworth, 3rd Earl of Strafford (1672-1739) engraved on a magnificent Queen Anne sideboard dish by John Bache, 1713, (The Hilmar Reksten Collection; Christie's, London, 21 May 1991, lot 127) and another seal-box of 1715 (The Bute Collection; Christie's, London, 3 July 1996, lot 67).
There were a number of prominent engravers working in London in the first quarter of the 18th century, most noticeably Benjamin Rhodes and a number of members of the Rollos family, who were both goldsmiths and engravers. Charles Oman attributed the engraving on a silver-gilt basin of 1705 to John Rollos (d.1743) (C. Oman, English Engraved Silver 1150-1900, London, 1978, p. 87). The dish formed part of the Royal ambassadorial plate taken by Baron Raby, later 3rd Earl of Strafford, to the court of the King of Prussia. A comparison of the engraving on the present lot and the examples above suggests a possible attribution of the engraving to John Rollos, who Oman records as working for the Stamp Office cutting seals and stamps. He also notes that from 1720 to his death, he engraved seals for the crown and it would seem very possible for him to have engraved arms for the Jewel House on both seal-boxes and ambassadorial plate (C. Oman, op. cit., p. 86). Numerous seal boxes were delivered from the Royal Jewel House to enclose the wax impression of the Royal Seal on state documents as recorded in the Jewel House Delivery book.
There were a number of prominent engravers working in London in the first quarter of the 18th century, most noticeably Benjamin Rhodes and a number of members of the Rollos family, who were both goldsmiths and engravers. Charles Oman attributed the engraving on a silver-gilt basin of 1705 to John Rollos (d.1743) (C. Oman, English Engraved Silver 1150-1900, London, 1978, p. 87). The dish formed part of the Royal ambassadorial plate taken by Baron Raby, later 3rd Earl of Strafford, to the court of the King of Prussia. A comparison of the engraving on the present lot and the examples above suggests a possible attribution of the engraving to John Rollos, who Oman records as working for the Stamp Office cutting seals and stamps. He also notes that from 1720 to his death, he engraved seals for the crown and it would seem very possible for him to have engraved arms for the Jewel House on both seal-boxes and ambassadorial plate (C. Oman, op. cit., p. 86). Numerous seal boxes were delivered from the Royal Jewel House to enclose the wax impression of the Royal Seal on state documents as recorded in the Jewel House Delivery book.