The Newdigate Centrepiece
Epergne
1743 (made), 1743-1744 (hallmarked)
1743 (made), 1743-1744 (hallmarked)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
A table centrepiece, also known as an 'epergne', used to hold courses for dinner or dessert.
History & Use
The form is based on a composite type of table centrepiece established at the French court around 1700, and which had become an essential element of the very grandest English dining-tables by the 1730s. This highly complex example was designed for both main course and dessert use, but can in fact be used in a number of different permutations for different stages in the meal, and indeed for meals at different times of the day.
The surviving elements comprise a tureen with attached stand on four feet, a dish, four detachable branches, four detachable salvers and four finials. It was originally supplied with a cover for the tureen and detachable candle nozzles and drip pans.
Common practice was for a centrepiece to be laid out for the main course at the more informal meal of supper; the tureen and cover contained stews or 'ragouts', kept warm by a spirit lamp underneath, while the brackets were fitted with candles and the salvers placed directly on the table. At dinner, the centrepiece served as a fruit stand, set out at the beginning of the meal, supplemented by further dishes of fruits and sweetmeats for the dessert course. The cover of the tureen would be replaced by the large dish and stand fitted with salvers in place of candle nozzles. By the 1750s the composite centrepiece had developed into the now more familiar dessert centrepiece, often with hanging baskets.
Decoration
This elaborate centrepiece (a wedding present) is richly decorated with characteristic Rococo motifs - bold scrollwork, flowers and shells - but also contains elements typical of de Lamerie's work, such as the helmeted putti.
A table centrepiece, also known as an 'epergne', used to hold courses for dinner or dessert.
History & Use
The form is based on a composite type of table centrepiece established at the French court around 1700, and which had become an essential element of the very grandest English dining-tables by the 1730s. This highly complex example was designed for both main course and dessert use, but can in fact be used in a number of different permutations for different stages in the meal, and indeed for meals at different times of the day.
The surviving elements comprise a tureen with attached stand on four feet, a dish, four detachable branches, four detachable salvers and four finials. It was originally supplied with a cover for the tureen and detachable candle nozzles and drip pans.
Common practice was for a centrepiece to be laid out for the main course at the more informal meal of supper; the tureen and cover contained stews or 'ragouts', kept warm by a spirit lamp underneath, while the brackets were fitted with candles and the salvers placed directly on the table. At dinner, the centrepiece served as a fruit stand, set out at the beginning of the meal, supplemented by further dishes of fruits and sweetmeats for the dessert course. The cover of the tureen would be replaced by the large dish and stand fitted with salvers in place of candle nozzles. By the 1750s the composite centrepiece had developed into the now more familiar dessert centrepiece, often with hanging baskets.
Decoration
This elaborate centrepiece (a wedding present) is richly decorated with characteristic Rococo motifs - bold scrollwork, flowers and shells - but also contains elements typical of de Lamerie's work, such as the helmeted putti.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 14 parts.
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| Title | The Newdigate Centrepiece (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Silver |
| Brief description | Epergne, silver, London hallmarks for 1743-44, mark of Paul de Lamerie. |
| Physical description | The centrepiece now comprises fourteen elements, a basin or tureen on four feet, a dish for dessert, four salvers which screw into four branches and four finials. The elements are richly decorated with cast and chased motifs, with the borders made up of asymmetrically arranged floral sprays and shellwork with applied cast details. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | The arms of Newdigate (gules, three lions' jambs erased, argent) impaling those of Conyers (azure, a maunch or, over all a bendlet gobony ermine and gules) (Decoration; on the central dish and the four smaller salvers)
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Acquired withsupport from Art Fund, Goldsmiths' Company, Mr Otto Beit, Sir John Ramsden, Mr A. S. Marsden-Smedley, Mr Louis Clarke and Mr G. C. Bower |
| Object history | Made in London by the workshop of Paul de Lamerie (born in Bois-le-Duc, The Netherlands, about 1688, died in London, 1751) |
| Historical context | The epergne or surtout was the most complex object made by English goldsmiths; the Newdigate epergne, even in its present state, can be assembled in six different ways for different types of meal. Its form and components are those which have become standard in England in the preceding 30 years and it is a late version of the multi-function centrepiece which emerged at the French court ca. 1700, to be rapidly copied by English goldsmiths. Although pieces of tableware (epergnes, tureens, wine coolers) were the most elaborately decorated and so the most expensive of any category of plate, the motifs were usually standard. The helmeted putti recur, for instance, on Lamerie's teawares of the early 1740s. Paul de Lamerie exhibition catalogue, Goldsmiths' Hall, 1990, No. 81, (entry by Philippa Glanville) |
| Summary | Object Type A table centrepiece, also known as an 'epergne', used to hold courses for dinner or dessert. History & Use The form is based on a composite type of table centrepiece established at the French court around 1700, and which had become an essential element of the very grandest English dining-tables by the 1730s. This highly complex example was designed for both main course and dessert use, but can in fact be used in a number of different permutations for different stages in the meal, and indeed for meals at different times of the day. The surviving elements comprise a tureen with attached stand on four feet, a dish, four detachable branches, four detachable salvers and four finials. It was originally supplied with a cover for the tureen and detachable candle nozzles and drip pans. Common practice was for a centrepiece to be laid out for the main course at the more informal meal of supper; the tureen and cover contained stews or 'ragouts', kept warm by a spirit lamp underneath, while the brackets were fitted with candles and the salvers placed directly on the table. At dinner, the centrepiece served as a fruit stand, set out at the beginning of the meal, supplemented by further dishes of fruits and sweetmeats for the dessert course. The cover of the tureen would be replaced by the large dish and stand fitted with salvers in place of candle nozzles. By the 1750s the composite centrepiece had developed into the now more familiar dessert centrepiece, often with hanging baskets. Decoration This elaborate centrepiece (a wedding present) is richly decorated with characteristic Rococo motifs - bold scrollwork, flowers and shells - but also contains elements typical of de Lamerie's work, such as the helmeted putti. |
| 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 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.149:1 to 14-1919 |
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| Record created | June 1, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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