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拍品 724PROPERTY OF A LADY (LOTS 724,725,738 & 762)
A PAIR OF GEORGE III SILVER WINE COOLERS, COLLARS AND LINERS
MARK OF JOSEPH PREEDY, LONDON, 1804, THE COLLARS UNMARKED
已结束2021年11月16日
成交价
GBP 27,500
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专家说明
This magnificent pair of wine coolers, appropriately embellished with a sculptural Bacchanalian frieze depicting the Triumph of Bacchus attended by his drunken tutor Silenus, form part of an intriguing group of related examples. There are at least four distinct variations of the design, all inspired by antiquity, which vary only slightly in the choice of ornamental borders. All are struck with the maker's mark of William Pitts or the maker’s mark IP attributed to William Pitts’ sometime partner Joseph Preedy. The wine coolers date between 1800 and 1810.
Joseph Preedy is an important but little studied maker. He was in partnership from 1791 to 1799 with Pitts, who was to become one of the most original and creative silversmiths of the first two decades of the nineteenth century. In the latter years Preedy registered his mark alone. He clearly was successful; indeed in 1802, Preedy produced a number of pieces with marine themes and engraved with the Royal badge which presumably formed part of an important Ambassadorial dinner-service.
Both Pitts and Preedy are thought to have supplied the Royal Goldsmith and retailer Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. It seems certain that Rundells would have provided Pitts and Preedy with a working design and a detailed print of the frieze around the body depicting the Triumph of Bacchus attended by Silenus. The main figures of Bacchus and Silenus are thought to have been taken from a plate in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'Antiquité Expliquée et representée en figures, a highly influential series of volumes first published in Paris in 1719, and translated for an English edition in 1721. The comatose figure of Silenus features on plate LXXXVII on page 196 in the second volume of Montfaucon.
Montfaucon was a Benedictine scholar from the congregation of Saint Maur, whose travels in Italy from 1698 to 1701 led to his ambitious compilation of all images of antiquities known in his time. The fact that the present relief was a Renaissance and not an ancient Roman work was unknown to Montfaucon, who erroneously included later works based on antique themes as well as outright forgeries in L'Antiquité Expliquée. One can be almost certain that Rundell's owned a copy of Montfaucon's work, as another engraving from his book provides the subject for the relief plaque applied to the celebrated Bacchus and Ariadne sideboard dishes designed by Thomas Stothard and made by Paul Storr for Rundells.
The dancing figure with a tambourine is inspired by a well-known antique cameo in the Marlborough gem collection, published in 1788, and this cameo was also reproduced by Wedgwood as a basalt-ware intaglio sometime in the following decade. The smaller putti appear to be taken from the work of the artist, Lady Elizabeth Templeton (1747-1823), who supplied Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley with designs from 1783 to 1789. Rundells must have then had a very extensive library of such print sources.
When introduced in the early part of the 19th century, they proved to be a popular and prestigious model. A pair of coolers of this design with stands from the collection of the Duke of Cumberland, brother of King George IV, manufactured in 1806 by William Pitts were sold at Sotheby's, New York 21 October 1997, lot 184. Another pair, similarly featuring the crest of a Royal Duke dating to 1800 and 1802 with the mark IP attributed to Joseph Preedy, were sold at Christie's, London on 14 December 1988. A further pair of wine coolers and stands engraved with a Royal Duke’s crest, with maker's mark IP from 1801 and 1803 were sold at Sotheby's, New York in October 1996. On occasion, the two maker's marks are found within a set such as on the set of four wine coolers engraved with the crest of Egerton for John William, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1753), sold at Christie's, London, 13 March 1929, lots 49 and 50 from the collection of the Rt. Hon. Lord Brownlow. Two feature the maker's mark IP and date to 1803 and 1804; the second pair by William Pitts date to 1810. In addition to the engraved crest, the coolers were marked with scratchweights and numbered 1-4, indicating that the group was a united set of four.
Joseph Preedy is an important but little studied maker. He was in partnership from 1791 to 1799 with Pitts, who was to become one of the most original and creative silversmiths of the first two decades of the nineteenth century. In the latter years Preedy registered his mark alone. He clearly was successful; indeed in 1802, Preedy produced a number of pieces with marine themes and engraved with the Royal badge which presumably formed part of an important Ambassadorial dinner-service.
Both Pitts and Preedy are thought to have supplied the Royal Goldsmith and retailer Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. It seems certain that Rundells would have provided Pitts and Preedy with a working design and a detailed print of the frieze around the body depicting the Triumph of Bacchus attended by Silenus. The main figures of Bacchus and Silenus are thought to have been taken from a plate in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'Antiquité Expliquée et representée en figures, a highly influential series of volumes first published in Paris in 1719, and translated for an English edition in 1721. The comatose figure of Silenus features on plate LXXXVII on page 196 in the second volume of Montfaucon.
Montfaucon was a Benedictine scholar from the congregation of Saint Maur, whose travels in Italy from 1698 to 1701 led to his ambitious compilation of all images of antiquities known in his time. The fact that the present relief was a Renaissance and not an ancient Roman work was unknown to Montfaucon, who erroneously included later works based on antique themes as well as outright forgeries in L'Antiquité Expliquée. One can be almost certain that Rundell's owned a copy of Montfaucon's work, as another engraving from his book provides the subject for the relief plaque applied to the celebrated Bacchus and Ariadne sideboard dishes designed by Thomas Stothard and made by Paul Storr for Rundells.
The dancing figure with a tambourine is inspired by a well-known antique cameo in the Marlborough gem collection, published in 1788, and this cameo was also reproduced by Wedgwood as a basalt-ware intaglio sometime in the following decade. The smaller putti appear to be taken from the work of the artist, Lady Elizabeth Templeton (1747-1823), who supplied Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley with designs from 1783 to 1789. Rundells must have then had a very extensive library of such print sources.
When introduced in the early part of the 19th century, they proved to be a popular and prestigious model. A pair of coolers of this design with stands from the collection of the Duke of Cumberland, brother of King George IV, manufactured in 1806 by William Pitts were sold at Sotheby's, New York 21 October 1997, lot 184. Another pair, similarly featuring the crest of a Royal Duke dating to 1800 and 1802 with the mark IP attributed to Joseph Preedy, were sold at Christie's, London on 14 December 1988. A further pair of wine coolers and stands engraved with a Royal Duke’s crest, with maker's mark IP from 1801 and 1803 were sold at Sotheby's, New York in October 1996. On occasion, the two maker's marks are found within a set such as on the set of four wine coolers engraved with the crest of Egerton for John William, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1753), sold at Christie's, London, 13 March 1929, lots 49 and 50 from the collection of the Rt. Hon. Lord Brownlow. Two feature the maker's mark IP and date to 1803 and 1804; the second pair by William Pitts date to 1810. In addition to the engraved crest, the coolers were marked with scratchweights and numbered 1-4, indicating that the group was a united set of four.