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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 67, The Whiteley Galleries

Christening Cup

1852-1853 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The designer of this cup is unknown but Hunt & Roskell (of 13 New Bond St) employed several well-known artists in studio. One was E.H.Baily, a sculptor, who had formerly modelled for the Royal Goldsmiths of the Regency, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. Paul Storr, who had persuaded him to leave, had also relinquished his direction of one of Rundell’s workshops & gone into partnership with John Mortimer in 1823. Storr’s firm was eventually styled Hunt & Roskell one of the richest & best known silversmithing concerns of the Victorian era. They employed several Frenchmen (including the great artist-craftsman Antoine Vechte) and the presence of these designers in their studio probably explains the structural use of wing forms, which was copied from contemporary French sources.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver gilt
Brief description
Christening cup, silver-gilt, London 1852-53, mark of Hunt and Roskell.
Physical description
Gourd shaped. three nuts screwing base and stem to cup. The cup supported by three kneeling angels, hands clasped, raised & crossed wings following calyx. Below the circular base in which they kneel is a larger one, around which lies a serpent - symbolising longeivity.
.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • below rim: maker JSH for John Samuel Hunt, sterling, leopard, duty, date letter gothic R (1852-3) under base: maker, duty, sterling, date letter on 2 nuts: sterling
  • under base incised: Hunt and Roskell Late Storr Mortimer and Hunt 4461”
Credit line
Formerly in the collection of Charles and Lavinia Handley-Read.
Object history
The designer of this cup is unknown but Hunt & Roskell (of 13 New Bond St) employed several well-known artists in studio. One was E.H.Baily, a sculptor, who had formerly modelled for the Royal Goldsmiths of the Regency, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. Paul Storr, who had persuaded him to leave, had also relinquished his direction of one of Rundell’s workshops & gone into partnership with John Mortimer in 1823. Storr’s firm was eventually styled Hunt & Roskell one of the richest & best known silversmithing concerns of the Victorian era. They employed several Frenchmen (including the great artist-craftsman Antoine Vechte) and the presence of these designers in their studio probably explains the structural use of wing forms, which was copied from contemporary French sources.
Subjects depicted
Summary
The designer of this cup is unknown but Hunt & Roskell (of 13 New Bond St) employed several well-known artists in studio. One was E.H.Baily, a sculptor, who had formerly modelled for the Royal Goldsmiths of the Regency, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. Paul Storr, who had persuaded him to leave, had also relinquished his direction of one of Rundell’s workshops & gone into partnership with John Mortimer in 1823. Storr’s firm was eventually styled Hunt & Roskell one of the richest & best known silversmithing concerns of the Victorian era. They employed several Frenchmen (including the great artist-craftsman Antoine Vechte) and the presence of these designers in their studio probably explains the structural use of wing forms, which was copied from contemporary French sources.
Collection
Accession number
M.47-1972

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
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