The Ashburnham Centrepiece
Centrepiece
1747 (made)
1747 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The asymmetric, sculptural form of this silver centrepiece are typical of French fashions of the 1730s and 40s which were also popular in England. This example is one of the few works to survive with the mark of the French goldsmith Nicolas Sprimont. Sprimont probably arrived in England in 1742 and soon established himself as an important figure in the London trade. In 1748, shortly after his workshop completed this centrepiece, Sprimont became the manager of the newly-founded Chelsea porcelain factory. The similarity between this centrepiece and a tureen of 1740 (now in the Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio)) by Paul Crespin, whose workshop was next to Sprimont's in the Soho district of London, suggests the two goldsmiths may have collaborated on these works, or at least shared the same designs.
The centrepiece is known as the 'Ashburnham' centrepiece after the arms engraved on the foot of the Second Earl of Ashburnham and his wife, who married in 1756. However, as the piece was marked by the London assay office in 1747-8, it is unlikely to have been commissioned by the Earl. Traces of an earlier coat of arms beneath those of the Earl confirm this. The silver centrepiece was the most costly and elaborate item on fashionable dinner tables in Europe from about 1700. Originally devised at the court of Louis XIV as a composite object and a container for soup or a hot dish, the form became increasingly ornamental and fanciful by 1740. No liner for the pierced basket in this example survives, so it may have been used to display fruit. The centrepiece would have been made as part of a much larger set of tablewares.
The centrepiece is known as the 'Ashburnham' centrepiece after the arms engraved on the foot of the Second Earl of Ashburnham and his wife, who married in 1756. However, as the piece was marked by the London assay office in 1747-8, it is unlikely to have been commissioned by the Earl. Traces of an earlier coat of arms beneath those of the Earl confirm this. The silver centrepiece was the most costly and elaborate item on fashionable dinner tables in Europe from about 1700. Originally devised at the court of Louis XIV as a composite object and a container for soup or a hot dish, the form became increasingly ornamental and fanciful by 1740. No liner for the pierced basket in this example survives, so it may have been used to display fruit. The centrepiece would have been made as part of a much larger set of tablewares.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Title | The Ashburnham Centrepiece (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Silver |
| Brief description | Silver tureen and cover on a stand, made by Nicholas Sprimont, perhaps working in collaboration with Paul Crespin, England (London), 1747-8 |
| Physical description | Silver tureen-shaped centrepiece with a cover, on a stand. The centrepiece is made up of ten separate parts. The lid has two fruit ornaments separately attached, the tureen and its stand (in the form of two goats) can be separated, and the base has four separately attached fruit ornaments. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Gallery label | (2) The Ashburnham Centrepiece
London 1747
Mark of Nicolas Sprimont
Engraved with the arms of John, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham (1724-1812) and those of his wife, Elizabeth Crowley, whom he married in 1756.
The centrepiece was a flexible and adaptable table ornament and tureens for stews and soups could be incorporated. The design of this example, a pierced covered bowl resting on two kid goats, echoes a design of two hundred years earlier by the Italian Renaissance artist Giulio Romano. The maker, Nicolas Sprimont, who founded the Chelsea porcelain factory, incorporated a similar device of two kids in cream jugs produced by the factory from 1745. Sprimont may have made this centrepiece in collaboration with the silversmith, Paul Crespin, who worked close by.
Purchased with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund.
M.46-1971(1999) |
| Credit line | Supported by The Art Fund (Cochrane Trust) |
| Object history | This magnificent centrepiece is one of the very few surviving pieces of silver marked by Nicolas Sprimont, a French silversmith who settled in London in the 1740s. Sprimont enjoyed considerable success in his adopted country, in part perhaps because his works reflect a strong knowledge of contemporary French fashions. The sculptural treatment of details, the fluid forms of the feet supporting the base and the strongly three-dimensional aspect of a design that needs to be seen in the round to be appreciated are all reminiscent of the work of leading French goldsmiths of the 1730s and 40s, particularly Thomas Germain. The arms engraved on the foot of the base are those of John, second Earl of Ashburnham and his wife Elizabeth Crowley, and it is because of this provenance that the centrepiece has come to be known as the 'Ashburnham' centrepiece. However, the piece was taken for assay in 1747-8, while the Earl and his wife were not married until 1756, which suggests they did not originally commission the work. Traces of another coat of arms beneath those of Ashburnham and Elizabeth confirm this. These traces of earlier heraldry, together with stylistic elements of the centrepiece itself, are similar to the erased arms and design of decorative elements on a pair of silver baskets also marked for Nicolas Sprimont (one basket now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the other on loan to the V&A, Loan: Gilbert.734-2008). The centrepiece, then, was almost certainly part of a much larger table service but the person originally reponsible for its commission is unknown today. |
| Historical context | The centrepiece descended in the Ashburnham family until 1914 when it was sold with the rest of the Ashburnham silver. It was subsequently in a private collection in the USA. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The asymmetric, sculptural form of this silver centrepiece are typical of French fashions of the 1730s and 40s which were also popular in England. This example is one of the few works to survive with the mark of the French goldsmith Nicolas Sprimont. Sprimont probably arrived in England in 1742 and soon established himself as an important figure in the London trade. In 1748, shortly after his workshop completed this centrepiece, Sprimont became the manager of the newly-founded Chelsea porcelain factory. The similarity between this centrepiece and a tureen of 1740 (now in the Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio)) by Paul Crespin, whose workshop was next to Sprimont's in the Soho district of London, suggests the two goldsmiths may have collaborated on these works, or at least shared the same designs. The centrepiece is known as the 'Ashburnham' centrepiece after the arms engraved on the foot of the Second Earl of Ashburnham and his wife, who married in 1756. However, as the piece was marked by the London assay office in 1747-8, it is unlikely to have been commissioned by the Earl. Traces of an earlier coat of arms beneath those of the Earl confirm this. The silver centrepiece was the most costly and elaborate item on fashionable dinner tables in Europe from about 1700. Originally devised at the court of Louis XIV as a composite object and a container for soup or a hot dish, the form became increasingly ornamental and fanciful by 1740. No liner for the pierced basket in this example survives, so it may have been used to display fruit. The centrepiece would have been made as part of a much larger set of tablewares. |
| Bibliographic references |
|
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.46:1, 2-1971 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | January 15, 2003 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
