On the cover:

A Pair of George II Candlesticks

London, 1746
by George Wickes

Height: 11 ¾”
Weight: 83 oz. 13 dwt.

From the renowned Leinster Service, made for James FitzGerald,

20th Earl of Kildare, later 1st Duke of Leinster.

He played an active part in Irish politics, becoming one of the most

popular noblemen in Ireland. When, in 1766, he was created Duke of
Leinster, there were no other Irish dukes.

The Leinster Service ranks as the grandest and most complete

aristocratic dinner-service to survive from the 18th century, the
majority of which was sold Christie’s, London, 5 July 2012, lot 48.
The service is exceptional not only for its quality and quantity but
also for the existence of a full inventory compiled by the maker,
Royal goldsmith George Wickes, in his Gentleman’s Ledger.

S.J. Shrubsole
26 East 81st Street
New York, NY 10028
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 A George II

Silver Caster
London, 1728
by Thomas Burridge
Height: 6 ½”
Weight: 7 oz. 9 dwt.
Though this caster dates to the
beginning of George II’s reign,
its form originates at least 10
years earlier—but the floral
piercing is a strong gesture
toward Rococo sensibilities.

The Rococo in British Silver

Shrubsole’s annual printed catalog is our effort to share with the public our most exciting
acquisitions. In this special digital issue, we are doing something new: presenting a group of
exceptional objects with a common theme.

So here you have it: British Rococo (and related) silver at S.J. Shrubsole.

To contemporary (read: minimalist) tastes, the Rococo—full of flourish and fancy—can seem
daunting. But Rococo means more than just “ornate”. Inspired by Italian architecture, French
painting, and other continental sources, British silversmiths (including the great French Huguenot
immigrant craftsmen) experimented with naturalism and asymetry. These aesthetic ideas, combined
with an ever higher standard of craftsmanship and a booming economy, set the stage for an
explosion of creativity in British silver.

Consider the pair of candlesticks on the cover, by George Wickes. A form with a simple and
obvious function. Yet in the designer’s imagination, this utilitarian idea evolves into a wild
adventure of sinuous lines: suggestions of waves tossing shells and leaves rustling in the wind.

These candlesticks are the objects that made me fall for the Rococo style. But all of the objects in
this catalog share the common threads of imagination, innovation, and mastery of the craft.

I hope you enjoy the catalog. Remember, everything is for sale! If you, like us, prefer paper over a
screen, I recommend printing out a copy. But of course, the best way to see these objects is always
to visit the shop. We’ve never outgrown the fun of show-and-tell.

Benjamin Miller
Director of Research
A George I Salver
London, 1726 Diameter: 8 ¼”
by Paul de Lamerie Weight: 16 oz. 13 dwt.

English Rococo silver arguably begins with Paul de Lamerie.

This dinner-plate-sized salver boasts a nice scalloped rim and
sophisticated engraving—gesturing toward, but not yet
embracing, the ornate decoration that typifies the Rococo
style.
 A George II Bowl
London, 1732
by Francis Spilsbury

Diameter: 6”
Weight: 10 oz. 10 dwt.

Another, shall we say, proto-Rococo piece.

With a clean, simply curved bowl; but the
more intricate moulded foot adds
complexity.

In lovely condition, with clean marks and

beautiful color.

The base is engraved “S/H*A”, and the

arms (in a lozenge, indicating that they are
for a woman) are those of Francis, Co.
Derby or Simpson, Co. York.

A George II Teapot
London, 1741
by Gabriel Sleath

Length: 8 ½”
Weight: 32 oz.

A “bullet” teapot with organic flourishes

in the spout and handle, and a similarly
moulded foot.

Gabriel Sleath produced an extensive

range of hollowware items including
coffee pots, teapots, tankards, and cups.
His most famous works are the wine
cisterns in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg
and the Grocers’ Company in London.

In the same year Sleath made this teapot,

Bach composed his Goldberg Variations.
Is it too far-fetched to imagine that they
share some common themes?
 A George II Coffee Pot
London, 1730
by Paul de Lamerie

Height: 7 ¾”
Weight: 22 oz. 17 dwt.

A side-handled pot with a typically

Lamerie-style tapering spout.

The arms are for Fountayne Wentworth

Osbaldeston (1695-1770), Member of
Parliament for Scarborough between 1766
and 1770. The family were significant
patrons of Lamerie.

A George II Coffee Pot

Dublin, circa 1730

Height: 8 ½”
Weight: 32 oz.

A sort of halfway point between the

Queen Anne “lighthouse” coffee pots, with
narrow tapering cylinder bodies, and later
George II pots with sides curving inward at
the spout.

Like a lighthouse coffee pot, the foot of

this piece is simply a moulded ring affixed
to the base of the body. But, hinting
toward later Rococo ideas, here in the
spout and handle sockets we see restrained
curves stopping just short of real twisting
and turning.
A Pair of George II Sauce Boats
London, 1727 Length: 8 ¾”
by Anne Tanqueray Weight: 36 oz. 2 dwt.
As fine a pair of sauce boats as you are likely to find: heavy, The esteemed Arthur Grimwade, in London Goldsmiths
pristine, and beautiful. The playful shaping of the foot, rim, 1697-1837, observes that “the quality of [Anne
and handles all hint at Rococo, even though they lack the Tanqueray’s] sauce-boats and inkstands is particularly
fancy chasing or complex applied elements that became outstanding.”
standard in subsequent decades.
A Pair of George II
Sauce Boats
London, 1748
by James Shruder

Length: 8 ½”
Weight: 39 oz.

The depiction of a cresting wave is

unusually literal, even for this period.

Shruder, though a highly respected

craftsman (Grimwade: “some of the finest
rococo plate of the day”), declared
bankruptcy the year after creating these
sauce boats. Make of that what you will.

A Pair of George II
Candlesticks
Dublin, circa 1765
by Robert Holmes

Height: 11”
Weight: 41 oz. 16 dwt.

A wonderfully decorative pair. These sit

right in the sweet spot of the Rococo: free
flowing and imaginative, neither plain (like
earlier silver from the Queen Anne and
George I periods), nor academic (like silver
from the George III period to follow).
A George II Soup Tureen
London, 1736 Height: 10 ½”, Length: 15 ¾”
by Christian Hillan Weight: 142 oz. 1 dwt.

A remarkable soup tureen by Christian Hillan, one of the more enigmatic and idiosyncratic
silversmiths working in London in the reign of George II. As much as one can say this about
Georgian silversmiths: he had his own style, covering the surface of his pieces with a
particular type of very precise, very crisp ornament.

In this tureen is all the sophistication of high Rococo design, but much earlier in date than
one would expect—and with the complex elements cast and applied rather than chased. This
lends the object an architectural, frieze-like quality inconsistent with later Rococo forms.

The arms are those of Thomas Trevor, 2nd Baron Trevor of Bromham (1692-1753). He was
a wealthy gentleman who moved in the highest circles—his daughter Elizabeth married
Charles, the 2nd Duke of Marlborough. Sir Thomas’s fortune had come from politics (in
those benighted times when one could enrich oneself through political office).

Provenance: Former collection of Joseph Simard (Sorel, Quebec).

Private collection, Montreal
 A Set of Three
George II Tea Caddies
London, 1746
by Thomas Whipham

Height of sugar bowl: 6 ¼”

Weight: 29 oz. 15 dwt.

High Rococo in all its intricate splendor.

Whipham would rise to the position of

Prime Warden at the Goldsmiths Hall in
1771. His son attained the same position
in 1790. Further descendents were active
silversmiths into the 20th century.

A Set of Four George II Salts

London, 1746 Diameter: 4”
by John Eckfourd Weight: 32 oz.

You don’t typically find salts this heavy until the Regency or the corrosion and pitting that salt can inflict on silver.
Victorian periods. With bold decoration (roses and lions)
and in excellent condition. The gilt interiors protect against Provenance: The Zorniger collection, Lexington, KY
A Suite of George II Candelabra and Candlesticks
London, 1755/56 Height: 19”
by John Cafe Weight: 158 oz. 10 dwt.

Grand and stately but not so large as to be overbearing. A (Derbyshire), Hader (Lincolnshire) or Thorpe (Yorkshire).
brilliant addition to a smart dining table or sideboard.
Cafe, along with his brother William, were specialists in cast
The arms are those of the Newton family of Duffield candlesticks.
A George II Cake Basket
London, 1742 Width: 14 ½”
by John Hugh Le Sage Weight: 66 oz.
An extraordinary example of a familiar form. Baskets are
very prone to damage on account of the piercing around
the sides, but this example has no repairs—probably as a
result of it being made in a very thick gauge of silver.
The basket shows Le Sage’s mastery of combining plain
and decorative surfaces using many of the fashionable
Rococo devices of the time together with a variety of
techniques including casting and chasing, flat chasing and
piercing.
Over the last 100 years we have bought a great number of
baskets including many by Lamerie. Very few, however,
match this piece in elegance, shape, ornament, and quality.
 A George II Teapot
London, 1749
by Ayme Videau

Length: 8 ½”
Weight: 18 oz. 5 dwt.

Another great Huguenot, Videau paid

David Willaume £20 to become his
apprentice in 1723. A smart investment, as
Videau would go on to become one of the
great silver hollowware makers of the
period.

A Pair of George II Salvers

Dublin, circa 1750

Diameter: 6 ¼”
Weight: 17 oz. 5 dwt.

From a very large and splended service

made for Wills Hill, Earl of Hillsborough
(the namesake of a number of towns and
counties in the United States).
 A George III
Dish Ring
Dublin, circa 1760

Diameter: 9”
Weight: 16 oz. 12 dwt.

Dish rings, mostly found in

Irish silver (and, maybe
pejoratively, called “potato
rings”), offer an excellent
opportunity for elaborate
decoration. The wall must be
pierced to allow air
circulation, as a heating
element is placed within.

And if it must be pierced,

then, why not pierce it well?

This piece is by an unknown

but evidently skilled maker.

A George II Cream Pot

Cork, circa 1760
by Michael McDermott

Height: 4 ¼”
Weight: 5 oz. 15 dwt.

Cork, an important commercial port, was home to

several good silversmiths. Michael McDermott kept his
shop under the “Sign of the Naked Boy and Scales”.

Replete with chased flowers, grapes, shells, baskets with

even more flowers, and an animal which resembles a
deer. Also note the curious feet. Altogether a very Irish
sort of a piece.
A George II Punch Strainer

London, 1751 Length: 12”

by Paul Crespin Weight: 8 oz. 10 dwt.

To show this strainer to scale (even laid sideways) would
require an oversize piece of paper. It is one of the largest,
finest, and most ambitious strainers we have ever handled.
The son of Huguenot refugees, Crespin earned a
reputation as one of London’s finest silversmiths. He
collaborated with Lamerie on a service for Empress
Catharine and was commissioned by the Prince of Wales to
create a massive centerpiece now at Windsor Castle. Other
prominent clients included the Duke of Marlborough and
the King of Portugal.
A Set of Six George III Candlesticks
London, 1756/1761 Height: 11 ¼”
by Samuel Courtauld/William Tuite Weight: 176 oz. 2 dwt.
It’s difficult to find a set of six candlesticks from this Like the Wickes candlesticks on the cover, the undulating
period. While these are by two makers (two by Courtauld, decoration is suggestive of water or wind—though on
four by Tuite), they are all but indistinguishable, aside from these pieces, the representation is more abstract. The sticks
the marks and the small crests (four with lions, two with boast a near perfect color and excellent condition, with
eagles). original bobeches and no sign of repair or alteration.
Six Georgian Coffee Pots
Top left: London, 1771
by John Parker & Edward Wakelin
Height: 11 ¼”; Weight: 30 oz. 15 dwt.

Below: London, 1769

by Louisa Courtauld & George Cowles
Height: 12 ¼”; Weight: 33 oz.

Bottom left: London, 1757

by Shaw & Priest
Height: 12”; Weight: 37 oz.

Following page:

Top left: London, 1749

by Thomas Gilpin
Height: 10”; Weight: 30 oz.

Top right: London, 1753

by Thomas Whipham
Height: 11 ½”; Weight: 39 oz. 19 dwt.

Bottom: (Actually an enormous chocolate pot)

London, 1763
by Whipham & Wright
Height: 15 ½”; Weight: 65 oz. 17 dwt.
A Set of Four George III Candlesticks
London, 1764 Height: 10 ¾”
by John Cafe Weight: 89 oz.
A George II Cup & Cover
London, 1755 Height: 15 ¾”
by John Swift Weight: 108 oz.
A stunningly well proportioned and decorated piece. The overwhelming the rest of the object.
grape vines applied on the body, foot, and cover are literal
depictions of nature—not the abstract or merely The arms are those of Baker.
suggestive shapes we see so often in the Rococo. The
handles are more conventional for the period, while the Provenance: Christie's, London, 27 May 1953, lot 141
imposing finial is as large as it could possibly be without
 A George III Tea Caddy
London, 1762
by Samuel Taylor

Height: 5 ½”
Weight: 14 oz. 7 dwt.

More literal foliage, this time in the form of

flowers and vines twisting across the body and
over the cover. A great example of how simply
sweet and charming Rococo can be.

A Pair of George III Salts

London, 1754 Length: 4”
by John Schuppe Weight: 5 oz. 5 dwt.
An extremely unusual model: turbulent waves haunted by Provenance: Sotheby’s London, Feb. 20, 1964, lot 63
ominous sea monsters, set on three shell feet. Schuppe was
known for eccentric forms and these are no exception. But Illustrated in The Sotheby’s Directory of Silver: 1600-1940,
of couse they make thematic sense: where better to keep p. 218
your salt than in the sea?
A George III Cruet On the back cover:

London, 1770 Height: 9 ½” A George III Epergne

by Jabez Daniel & James Mince Weight: 23 oz. 14 dwt.
London, 1762 Length: 28 ½”
Stately and reserved but interesting. A perfect piece for the by Lewis Herne & Francis Butty Weight: 242 oz.
sophisticated dining table. The three casters and two bottles
are all in excellent condition. This is one of the finest rococo epergnes known—beautifully
proportioned and beautifully preserved. From the very end of
the period; go any later and you will have to settle for
something neoclassical.