Cup and Cover
1717-1718 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is the only surviving piece of gold plate bearing Paul de Lamerie's mark. It is one of the small group of gold objects made between 1697-1719 that illustrates a quaint anomaly in the hallmarking system. During that period, when all silver objects had to be of the higher Britannia Standard and marked accordingly, the only time when Sterling silver marks were used on gold plate.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Gold, engraved with a coat of arms |
| Brief description | Gold, London hallmarks for 1717-18, mark of Paul de Lamerie |
| Physical description | Cup and cover, gold,, plain bowl with an everted lip and leaf cap scroll handles simple, moulded rim, resting on a low, domed foot. The lid with a stepped moulding and flanged rim and is surmounted by a baluster knop. Both cup and cover are engraved with a coat of arms and with a motto. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Lent from the collections at Berkeley Castle |
| Object history | This is the only surviving piece of gold plate bearing Paul de Lamerie's mark. It is one of the small group of gold objects made between 1697-1719 that illustrates a quaint anomaly in the hallmarking system. During that period, when all silver objects had to be of the higher Britannia Standard and marked accordingly, the only time when Sterling silver marks were used on gold plate. The reason for this commission by the Countess of Berkeley at this point in her life is unclear. She had been born Elizabeth Noel, third daughter of baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden and in 1677, had married Charles Berkeley, 10th Baron and 3rd Earl of Berkeley (1649-1710). By the time she commissioned the cup she was already a widow and her eldest son had died unmarried in 1699. By the inscription inside the cover it appears she was determined that after her own death, which occured in 1719, her daughter should have the benefit of a valuable possession. It is ironic that her daughter should by that date also have been widowed. Her husband, Sir John Germain, who died in 1718, had been earlier described by the diarist, John Evelyn, as a 'Dutch gamster of mean extraction who had gotten much by gaming'. He bequeathed to her a celebrated collection of gems and cameos and she in turn gave them to her great niece, Lady Mary Beauclerk, in 1762 on her marriage to Lord Charles Spencer, brother of the 4th Duke of Marlborough. The ten cases of stones were then transferred to the Duke and became known as the Marlborough gems. The gold cup, however, passed by descent through the Berkeley family. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This is the only surviving piece of gold plate bearing Paul de Lamerie's mark. It is one of the small group of gold objects made between 1697-1719 that illustrates a quaint anomaly in the hallmarking system. During that period, when all silver objects had to be of the higher Britannia Standard and marked accordingly, the only time when Sterling silver marks were used on gold plate. |
| Bibliographic reference | Hare, Susan (Ed.), Paul de Lamerie: at the sign of the golden ball: an exhibition of the work of England's master silversmith (1688-1751), London, Goldsmiths' Company, 1990
p.34-35 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:MET ANON.2:2-1998 |
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| Record created | June 8, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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