Soup Tureen
1722-1723 (hallmarked), 1795-1796 (hallmarked)
| Artist/Maker | |
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Huguenot goldsmiths first introduced the tureen to England. Those by Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751) are among the earliest known examples made in London. This tureen, along with its pair, belonged to the Edgcumbe family of Mount Edgcumbe, outside Plymouth. They were remodelled in the 1740s in the fashionable Rococo style. The liners were made by Wakelin and Garrard 1795-1796.
When the Catholic King Louis XIV revoked the 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.
When the Catholic King Louis XIV revoked the 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.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Raised, cast and applied, and engraved silver (Britannia standard), with cut-card work |
| Brief description | Silver soup tureen, London hallmarks (Britannia) for 1722-23, mark of Paul de Lamerie |
| Physical description | The bulbous body has two applied rococo cartouches of scrolls, foliage, and corn, with a lamb mask beneath, all on a tooled and punched matted ground. The scroll handles issue from a stylised shell, scroll, foliage and scalework mask. The covers are domed in two stages, with a gadrooned border, applied cut-card lambrequins on a punched matted ground with a scroll-and-shell border, and a central scroll handle. The cartouches are engraved with the crest and coronet of Richard Edgcumbe and his wife Matilda Furnese. The covers bear the same coat of arms and coronet. The plain liners have two small shell-shaped handles applied to their inside walls. They are also engraved with the Edgcumbe crest and coronet. The design of the crest varies. The tureens were made in about 1722, but remodelled by de Lamerie about 1747. Although they retain their original shape, gadroon borders, the intricate applied cut card decoration on the covers is in the régence style; the feet and lions' masks, the handles and the cartouches were all added later and are typical of de Lamerie's rococo style. |
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| Gallery label | (Gallery 71, case 3)
6, 7. Soup tureens and ladles
Soup tureens, 1722–23. Ladles, 1747–48
Huguenot goldsmiths introduced the soup tureen to England. Those by Paul de Lamerie, including this one, are among the earliest known examples made in London. The feet, handles and Rococo frames were added by de Lamerie in the 1740s. He updated these valuable pieces so that they would still represent fashionable taste.
London, England; Paul de Lamerie (1688–1751)
Silver
Museum nos. Loan:Gilbert.722:1 to 3; 723:1 to 3; 724, 725-2008(16/11/2016) |
| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Richard, first Baron Edgcumbe. By descent to the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe, sale, Sotheby's, lot 137, 24/05/1956. Mr and Mrs Arthur D. Leidesdorf, sale, Sotheby's, lot 83, 04/06/1974. |
| Historical context | The soup tureen was a new vessel introduced from France in the 1680s. Another early example marked for Paul de Lamerie in 1723 is in the collection of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey. The tureen in the collection of Eton College marked by De Lamerie in 1741, has more conventional lion's head masks, legs and claw and ball feet. |
| Production | Liners by Wakelin and Garrard |
| Summary | Huguenot goldsmiths first introduced the tureen to England. Those by Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751) are among the earliest known examples made in London. This tureen, along with its pair, belonged to the Edgcumbe family of Mount Edgcumbe, outside Plymouth. They were remodelled in the 1740s in the fashionable Rococo style. The liners were made by Wakelin and Garrard 1795-1796. When the Catholic King Louis XIV revoked the 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. |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.722:1 to 3-2008 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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