Christopher Hartop
 

A Charles II Chinoiserie Silver Toilet Service Jacob Bodendijk, London, 1680 Part exchange sale negotiated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on behalf of a British family  trust A great deal of new information has recently emerged about Jacob Bodendijk largely thanks to the researches of Eric J.G. Smith. Bodendijk was a native of Luneberg in Germany who, like many others, was attracted by the new business opportunities offered by Restoration London. Work bearing his mark is always of the highest quality. This extensive toilet service had lost some of its components over the years---the pair of salvers were reunited with the rest a few years ago, and in spring 2002 we negotiated the sale of the service to the MFA, reuniting it with a pair of candlesticks which the museum had been given in the 1950s.

The Willes Seal Salver A George II Silver Seal Salver Thomas Parr, London, 1739 Sale negotiated to the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, England This important salver is part of a small group of approximately a dozen extant salvers made from the matrices of seals of office. The custom of holders of office being allowed to keep their seals of office on the death of the sovereign or a change in his title appears to date from the 15th century, while the tradition of having a piece of plate fashioned from it can at least be traced back to the reign of Elizabeth. Among the earliest seal plate are the three Bacon Cups, commissioned by Sir Nicholas Bacon from the Great Seal of Philip and Mary. A small group of cups also survive from the end of the Stuart period, including the one made from the Great Seal of William III for Sir Nathan Wright by Philip Rollos. By the 18th century, however, salvers had superseded cups, probably as they are eminently suitable for having a representation of the obsolete seal engraved on them. Of the twelve or so examples recorded, the square salver made by Lamerie from the Exchequer Seal of Sir Robert Walpole, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is perhaps the best known.
	This salver was made from the seal matrices of the judicial seal of King George I for the counties of Denbigh, Montgomery and Flint. These were presented to Sir John Willes (1685--1761), Chief Justice of the County Palatine of Cheshire, which includes the counties of Denbigh, Montgomery and Flint. It was therefore very fitting that this salver should be acquired by the Grosvenor Museum, which already has a virtually unique survival---a pair of Chester Palatinate seal matrices, made for the Exchequer in 1706.

A George III Silver Soup Tureen, Cover and Stand John Parker I and Edward Wakelin, London, the tureen and cover 1761, the stand 1773 We were extremely pleased to negotiate the sale of this tureen in 2000 to the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, a museum which has a superb collection of English silver. It is engraved with the arms of Welbore Ellis, Secretary at War 1762--65 and Treasurer of the Navy 1777--82, who in 1782 was appointed Secretary of State for America and the Colonies. This tureen is one of the best examples of English late rococo silver, the main proponents of which were Parker & Wakelin and Thomas Heming. It follows the printed designs of Pierre Germain, published in Paris first in the late 1740s, and the form, with its clever combination of natural motifs and baroque symmetry, is in contrast to the heavy naturalism of much of London-made rococo silver from the mid-eighteenth century. ‘Middle period’ rococo silver is well represented in public and private collections but examples of this late phase of rococo are rare. The unusual positioning of the scroll feet, at the centre of each side, is also based on French prototypes such as Thomas Germain’s 1744 tureen made for Earl Stanhope in the Louvre. This tureen is one of a pair and was last seen with its mate in the collection of Henry Walters of Baltimore in the 1940s. In October 2002 the other example appeared at auction from a Paris collection and we were able to acquire this one for the St. Louis Art Museum.

A Gorham Martelé jug, 1901 One of eight pieces of American silver of the 19th and early 20th centuries Sold on behalf of a private collector to the Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, in December 2002

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