A GEORGE II SILVER BASKET FROM THE LEINSTER SERVICE, MAKER'S MARK ONLY OF GEORGE WICKES, LONDON, 1745-47
Auction Closed
November 11, 04:08 PM GTNN
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A GEORGE II SILVER BASKET FROM THE LEINSTER SERVICE, MAKER'S MARK ONLY OF GEORGE WICKES, LONDON, 1745-47
shaped oval, the openwork base and lip cast with scrolls and sprays of wheat interrupted by shell motifs, swing handle, the interior engraved with a crest and duke's coronet, the underside engraved: 'No 2' and with scratch weight: '72oz " 10dwt'
38.4cm., 15⅛in. wide
2202gr., 70oz. 15dwt.
James FitzGerald (1722-1773), 20th Earl of Kildare who became the Marquess of Kildare in 1761 and Duke of Leinster in 1766.
Elaine Barr, George Wickes, Royal Goldsmith, 1698-1761, London, 1980, pp. 196-205
In her description of the well-known Leinster Dinner Service, Elaine Barr (George Wickes, Royal Goldsmith, 1698-1761, London, 1980, pp. 196-205) writes that it ‘is one of the few that has survived. With the exception of a relatively small number of objects, it is still intact and some 170 pieces are now in a private collects ion. . . .’ Of the ‘missing’ objects, including two baskets, Mrs. Barr writes, ‘Since bread baskets were important items in a dinner service it is reasonable to suppos that those made for the Duke of Leinster were elaborately wrought in the manner of the [service’s] tureens.’ It is not known when the two baskets were split from the remainder of the service because they do not appear in four auction sales from the Leinster collects ion: Christie’s, London, 3 December 1925, 12 May 1926 and Replica Shoes ’s, London, 3 May and 12 July 1984.