Basin, lead-pewter, probably made by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, London, 1807, a casting of the silver Lomellini Basin in the V&A (See: M.11A-1974)

Heavily cast lead-pewter basin, a copy of the silver Lomellini Basin in the V&A's collection. The scenes commemorate a 1431 victory over the Venetians by Giovanni Grimaldi, while the arms in the centre are of the Lomellini family. The constituents of the metal are approximately 40-50% tin, 40-50% lead and up to 10% bismuth.

Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government from the estate of Jan Albert Gadd and allocated to the V&A, 2018

This is a cast, lead-pewter copy of the celebrated Lomellini Basin in the V&A's collection (See: M.11A-1974). It has been the subject of much debate among silver and pewter specialists. Analysis carried out in 2016 suggests the copy was probably made in 1807 when the silver version was sent to the English Royal Goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell for the addition of the coat-of-arms of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Fifth Earl of Shaftesbury, who owned the original.

This basin was part of the significant pewter and brass collection of Jan Gadd (d. 2015). Jan had firmly believed that the lead-pewter basin must have been made at the same time as the silver version (ca. 1621) - and that it may have served as a model for it - as the deep undercutting of the silver relief would have prevented a casting being made later without breaking the mould of the original. With this interpretation, the basin was offered for auction at the sale of Jan's collection (Lot 118, Bonhams, London, 24 February 2016, lot 118) but failed to sell with an estimate of £8000 - £12000.

The ownership history of both basins throws light on the probable connection between them.

Ownership history of the silver basin (M.11A-1974)

The V&A's silver Lomellini basin is matched with a monumental silver ewer and was intended for display, together with similarly grand pieces of tableware, during banquets. It bears the arms of the Grimaldi family of Genoa and the scenes of soldiers, ships and prisoners commemorate the victory of General Giovanni Grimaldi over Venetian forces in 1431. The prominent coat of arms, surmounted by a crown, applied to the centre of the basin belonged however, to another Genoese family, the Lomellini. It is possible that the ewer and basin were a gift from the Grimaldi family to the Lomellinis during the early seventeenth century. By adding their arms to the Grimaldi ewer and basin, the Lomellini family made the set match two similar ewers and basins they had commissioned to celebrate a marriage at a slightly earlier date. These pieces, decorated with scenes from Classical mythology, also bear the Lomellini arms and are now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Birmingham City Art Gallery.

In around 1807, all these ewers and basins were bought in Naples by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Fifth Earl of Shaftesbury. He took them to the Royal Goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell in London where he had a square silver base added to the foot of all three ewers, and the underside of the ewers and basins engraved with his arms (Ashley-Cooper) and his wife, Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Salvin and one of the co-heiresses of the Barony of de Mauley. Their presence was noted by the poet Samuel Rodgers in a letter to the Countess of Dunmore, Lady Fincastle, dated 8th November 1807: "The Shaftesburys are making magnificent preparations. The plate Lord S. bought at Naples for £300 is the hansomest I ever saw - three vast dishes and three ewers richly sculptured like the Shield of Achilles with battles, processions &c. I saw it at Rundalls yesterday" (Herbert Maxwell, The Honourable Sir Charles Murray KCB: A memoir, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1898). Ownership of the ewers and basins descended through their only daughter to the last owner, the 5th Lord de Mauley. In 1973 all three sets were sold at auction at Christie's, London.

Ownership history of the lead-pewter basin

Jan Gadd bought the lead-pewter basin in Copenhagen in 1994. It had formerly been in the collection of the Danish sculptor Professor Einar Utzon-Frank who Gadd was told had acquired it around 1910.

It is highly likely that this dish is therefore one of two mentioned in the catalogue of 'The Manor House Sale, Piddletrenthide, near Dorchester', a 'Highly Interesting and Valuable Collection of Works of Art, Historical and Royal Relics formed by J. Bridge and J. Gawler Bridge' (Waring & Gillow, 20-22 September 1911). J. Bridge was a descendent of John Bridge, one of the partners in Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. The dishes were described as '... two other casts of famous shields, one classical the other historical, the Reception of the Doria 20 in and 25 1/2 in respectively'. The art historian, Michael Snodin, has suggested that as the Doria were also a Genoese family and the central bearded figure in both silver and pewter basins recalls a Bronzino portrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune, it is likely the auction cataloguer had confused the ownership history. The size of the pewter basin corresponds closely to the larger of the two dishes mentioned here.

The lead-pewter basin is heavily cast and analysis carried out at the instigation of Jan Gadd, its former owner, revealed the metal to be 40-50% tin, 40-50% lead and up to 10% bismuth. Lead was frequently used in silversmiths' models because it flowed easily into complicated moulds. Lot 396, in the same sale for example refers to 'A pair of lead models of Crest , Reclining stags Gorged with a Ducal Coronet, on ebonized plinths, by E.H. Baily RA'.

Comparison

Comparing the silver and pewter versions shows that the lead-pewter basin is clearly cast from the silver version. Jan Gadd had understood the silver basin to have been cast too given its complicated composition but it was in fact raised from sheet silver.

The pewter casting differed from the silver basin in several areas. The most markedly undercut or hollow areas on the silver basin were filled in on the cast owing to the limits of releasing a mould. Details on the silver basin are crisper than on the original. Some sharp details in high and low relief on the original are missing from the copy. Indeed, what Jan Gadd and the auctioneer in 2015 felt may be a founder's mark on the lead-pewter copy is in fact part of the decoration showing face at a window on the original. The sharp lines of the window with nothing surrounding them look like a punched mark at first glance. On the original however, the window is set into a wall with lightly picked out brickwork that is not evident on the copy. Details on the pewter basin have also been altered or added in the mould before casting in metal.

The pewter casting must therefore have been made after the silver original and neither before nor at the same time. The pewter basin shows the Lomellini coat-of-arms which were not added to the silver version until it changed hands from the Grimaldi.

The 20mm difference in the diameter of the silver basin and the lead-pewter basin may partly be accounted for in metal shrinkage in the mould, but more likely the difference results from the assembly of the cast sections. Similarly, additional features and details on the cast copy that are not on the silver original suggest some extra work was done in the mould before casting. This was not uncommon when copies were made, particularly in the early 19th century. Indeed, contemporaneously, some of the Parthenon marbles copies by Lord Elgin have heads and faces added where they have been lost on the originals.

All three sets of silver Lomellini ewers and basins were recorded in the window of the Royal Goldsmiths', Rundell, Bridge and Rundell in 1807. It was during this period when the three ewers each had a square foot added along with the Earl of Shaftesbury's arms. The basins may well have been used as inspirational models by John Flaxman when designing for Rundells the famous Achilles Shield in the English Royal Collection.

Further weight can be added to the Rundells attribution by the appearance of two 'casts' of similar description in the Bridge Sale of 1911. John Bridge was the partner, Bridge, in Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. The Bridge Sale also fits neatly with the dates around when Einar-Utzon Frank acquired the dish that was subsequently bought by Jan Gadd. The most likely reason, therefore, for the casting of the lead-pewter copy was as a record of an important, attention-grabbing set of silver that passed through the shop of the Royal Goldsmiths in the early 19th century.

A casting of the silver Lomellini Basin that is also in the V&A's collection (See: M.11A-1974)

This is a cast, lead-pewter copy of the celebrated 17th-century, silver, Lomellini Basin in the V&A's collection (See: M.11A-1974). It has been the subject of much debate among silver and pewter specialists. Its former owner felt that as so much of the decoration on the original is undercut, the casting must have been made at the same time as the original as releasing a mould would have been impossible without breaking it. Analysis carried out in 2016 however, showed that the casting had less detail than the original and the decoration had been altered in places in the mould to create a reasonable casting. The copy was probably made in 1807 when the silver version was sent to the English Royal Goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell for the addition of the coat-of-arms of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Fifth Earl of Shaftesbury, who owned the original. In 1911, an auction of the belongings of a descendent of John Bridge, one of the partners in Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, included a cast of a 'shield' or very similar description and dimension to this suggesting it is the same one. The lead-pewter copy was made as either a record of an important, attention-grabbing set of silver that passed through the shop or as as an inspirational model for future artworks.

M.16-2018