John White
A George II Antique English Silver Two-Handled Cup, 1730
Height: 6.69 in. (17 cm.)
Weight: 37 oz. 18 dwt.
London
H0496
$ 12,500.00
The arms are for Sir John Hynde Cotton, 3rd Baronet, (c. 1686-1752) and his second wife Margaret. Provenance: The Estate of Roland L. Taylor of Philadelphia, Christie’s, 27 Sept. 1978,...
The arms are for Sir John Hynde Cotton, 3rd
Baronet, (c. 1686-1752) and his second wife Margaret.
Provenance: The Estate of Roland L. Taylor of
Philadelphia, Christie’s, 27 Sept. 1978, lot 142
The engraved strapwork on this cup is an
unusual substitute for the more common applied strap-work. (An example by
Lamerie can be seen on the previous page).
This engraving can be confidently attributed to Charles Gardner—an
engraver closely associated with the silversmith John White. Gardner was so talented that the Goldsmiths’
Company specified he should do all the engraving on a large order in the
1740s.
The Cotton papers survive in the
Cambridgeshire Archives. This cup is
listed in the 1737 inventory as “less cup” just after “large cup and cover,”
which reassuringly implies that it has not lost its cover—it never had
one.
Thanks to Anthony Phillips
and Harry Williams-Bulkeley of Christie’s in London for providing this and
other information about the provenance of the cup.