An infant Mars and Cupid hold the gilt medallion on the cover, embossed with the arms of Henry St John MP (1652-1742) before he was created Viscount St John in 1716. In 1684, the young St John was found guilty of murdering Sir William Elscott in the Globe Tavern in Fleet Street. Promised a royal pardon if he pleaded guilty, he was fined £16000, half of which went to the King, Charles II, and half to "two ladies that were in great favour".
The bold modelling and high relief chasing on the outer sleeve of the tankard is characteristic of goldsmiths trained in the Flemish and German centres, but rarely achieved by English workmen.
The design has recently been identified as two scenes from the Punic Wars, taken from the 1672 publication of Silicus Italicus, translated by Thomas Ross.
Physical description
Parcel gilt silver tankard, the barrel chased in high and low relief with a battle scene between mounted horsemen wearing classical armour and others wearing turbans; the cover set with a gilt medallion, embossed and chased with the infant Mars and Cupid holding an armorial shield with the arms of Henry St John topped by an applied three dimensional eagle crest; the borders chased with running acanthus on matted ground, the matching handle applied with a beaded rat tail, the thumbpiece formed as an acanthus leaf; gilt interior.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
ca. 1670-1675 (made)
Artist/maker
Bodendick, Jacob (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Silver, embossed and chased
Marks and inscriptions
Maker's mark for Jacob Bodendick, IB with a crescent below and two pellets
Dimensions
Height: 24 cm including thumb piece, Width: 23 cm including handle, Diameter: 17.2 cm base, Weight: 2251 g
Object history note
This tankard was presented by Henry St John, later Viscount St John, to Beckenham Parish Church in 1712 and recorded as being in their possession in the inventory of parish goods in 1735. An extract from Robert Borrowman's "Beckenham Past and Present", published in 1910, notes "a silver and chased flagon...the tankard has not been used in recent years and it is difficult to conjecture for what purpose it was intended".
It was sold at Sotheby's, London, July 14 1960, lot 118 by order of the Rector and Wardens.
Historical context note
This tankard bears the arms of Henry St John, MP (1652-1742) of Battersea, Surrey, before he was created Viscount St John in 1716. In 1684, the young St John along with a Colonel Webb, was found guilty of murdering Sir William Elscott in the Globe Tavern in Fleet Street at a public supper. They were tried on three statutes of murder, stabbing and manslaughter on the 11 December 1684. As St John's family was rich and not well connected at court, he was pardoned in exchange for the large fine of £16,000, half of which was paid to Charles II and the other half divided between "two ladies that were in great favour".
Jacob Bodendick was born in Limburg-an-Lahn, and, after his arrival in London in 1660, was one of a small number of alien goldsmiths working under direct royal patronage (see Philippa Glanville: 'The Bowes Cup: A Stuart Race Prize?' in The Burlington Magazine, June 1995). Others in this elite group included Christian Van Vianen, the Utrecht-trained goldsmith who was brought to London specifically by Charles I and returned after the Restoration, and Wolfgang Howzer, a Zurich craftsman and skilled chaser. Indeed, the goldsmith-banker Thomas Fowle employed both Bodendick and Howzer as chasers in the mid-1660s. Their presence in the capital was an indication of the value, which sophisticated, wealthy patrons set on highly-wrought, costly and stylish silver, and that this clientele was looking across the Channel for supreme achievement in the craft. The Goldsmiths' Company found this influx of foreigners most alarming, and tried to prevent them from registering their marks so that they could not work legally. However, they were forced to accept Bodendick's mark in 1664 by order of Charles II.
The design has been identified as two scenes from the Punic Wars, taken from the 1672 publication of Silicus Italicus, translated by Thomas Ross.
Descriptive line
Silver tankard chased in high relief with a battle scene by Jacob Bodendick, London, about 1670-1675.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Vanessa Brett, Sotheby's Directory of Gold and Silver, 1968, Philip Wilson Publishers, no 450, p131
Labels and date
An infant Mars and Cupid hold the gilt medallion on the cover, embossed with the arms of Henry St John MP (1652-1742) before he was created Viscount St John in 1716. In 1684, the young St John was found guilty of murdering Sir William Elscott in the Globe Tavern in Fleet Street. Promised a royal pardon if he pleaded guilty, he was fined £16000, half of which went to the King, Charles II, and half to "two ladies that were in great favour".
The bold modelling and high relief chasing on the outer sleeve of the tankard is characteristic of goldsmiths trained in the Flemish and German centres, but rarely achieved by English workmen.
The design has recently been identified as two scenes from the Punic Wars, taken from the 1672 publication of Silicus Italicus, translated by Thomas Ross. [1999]
Materials
Silver
Techniques
Gilding; Chasing; Raising
Categories
Drinking; Metalwork
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
MET
