Hot-water urn
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Credit Line:
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum number:
LOAN:GILBERT.674:1 to 4-2008
- Gallery location:
Gold, Silver & Mosaics, room 71, case 4, shelf 2
- Image in copyright
This is the earliest recorded English hot-water urn. The urn originally served the same function as the kettle. Sir John Campbell (1696-1782), for whose home it was made, served as ambassador to Russia, Lord of the Admiralty and Keeper of the Privy Seal.
When the Catholic King Louis XIV revoked the religiously tolerant Edict of Nantes in 1685, Huguenots (French Protestants) were forced to leave the country. Many were craftsmen who settled in London. Their technical skills and fashionable French style ensured the luxury silver, furniture, watches and jewellery they made were highly sought after. Huguenot specialists transformed English silver by introducing higher standards of craftsmanship. They promoted new forms, such as the soup tureen and sauceboat, and introduced a new repertoire of ornament, with cast sculptural details and exquisite engraving.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Physical description
The urn is of inverted baluster form and stands on three scroll feet that are each formed as a lion's paw above a plain, compressed spherical ball, the legs decorated with a lion mask and a scroll molding around the octagonal section above. The body has a flattened base and applied panels of shellwork at the junctions with the feet. A cast coat of arms for Sir John Campbell (showing the arms of Campbell with Pershall in pretense surrounded by the badge of the Order of the Bath) is applied to the front and back. The upper part of the body is chased with shells, scrolls, a goat mask, and faun masks on punched matted ground. The spout is shaped as a bird's head, with a carved wooden spigot in the form of a crest. The scroll handles are chased with foliage and surmounted by a female head. The hinged, domed cover, chased similarly to the upper part of the body, has an ovolo border and flame finial. The lamp is also of inverted baluster form chased with flowers and rococo cartouches on a matted ground; it is engraved four times with a crest and coronet.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
1742-1743 (marked)
Artist/maker
Archambo, Peter (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Silver and wood
Marks and inscriptions
London hallmarks for 1742-3
Mark of Peter Archambo
Applied coat of arms of Campbell with Pershall in pretense and surrounded by the badge of the Order of the Bath, for Sir John Campbell (1696-1782)
Sterling standard
Dimensions
Height: 39.5 cm, Width: 35.7 cm, Depth: 35.5 cm, Weight: 4100 g
Object history note
Provenance: John Campbell, third earl of Breadalbane.. The Campbell family. Purchased from Asprey and Company, London, 1986.
Descriptive line
Silver and wood, London hallmarks for 1742-3, mark of Peter Archambo
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Schroder, Timothy. The Gilbert collection of gold and silver, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no. 68, pp. 265-7. ISBN.0875871445
Materials
Silver; Wood
Techniques
Carving; Engraving (incising); Chasing; Moulding; Applied work; Punching
Subjects depicted
Foliage; Flowers (plants); Coats of arms; Scrolls (motifs); Busts; Cartouches; Masks (design elements); Lion masks; Finials; Shellwork; Scroll feet; Spouts
Categories
Containers; Tea, Coffee & Chocolate wares; Drinking; Metalwork; Silver
Collection code
MET
