Elizabeth Godfrey

A handsome tureen from one of the greatest, and most prolific, of the Huguenot shops in eighteenth century London. Abraham Buteux, probably an apprentice to Simon Pantin, had the good sense to marry the boss's daughter. When he died, Elizabeth entered her own mark at the hall, as Elizabeth Buteux, and carried on the business. She then, yet again, as Yeats put it, "chose a bandy-legged smith for man," and married Benjamin Godfrey, who was either her journeyman or her apprentice. He too predeceased her, and she again entered her own mark, this time as Elizabeth Godfrey. Her shop was one of the busiest in London. She produced some truly fantastic pieces, and became, in the fullness of time, "Goldsmith, Silversmith, and Jeweler to His Grace the Duke of Cumberland." The Duke of Cumberland was Prince William, third son of George II, who had become something of a popular hero after his victory over Jacobite forces at the Battle of Culloden in 1745.

Provenance: The Lipton Tea Company Collection