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Ewer
Marked by: Thomas Bolton (free 1686, died in 1732)
Irish (Dublin)
1699–1700
Object Place: Europe, Dublin, Ireland
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
H. 33 cm x W. 24.7 cm x D. 14 cm (13 x 9 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.); Weight: 2,403 gm (77 oz 5 dwt)
Credit Line
Theodora Wilbour Fund in memory of Charlotte Beebe Wilbour
Accession Number55.383
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver
DescriptionThe helmet-shaped ewer has a shaped rim and rests on a molded stepped foot assembled from cast and raised parts. The foot is spool-shaped, with a broad band of gadrooning and a flattened, fluted knop. The knop is cast in two parts and seamed horizontally. The lower part of the raised vessel has twenty- four applied moldings of ninepin shape. At the juncture of the foot with the body, there is a calyx of radiating laurel leaves. The plain surface of the body, engraved with a coat of arms within an elaborate cartouche, is divided by two horizontal bands (a square wire below and a cast gadrooned band above). The handle, in the form of a nude female demifigure, is cast in several parts. The figure is molded with narrow facial features and hair swept back in a knot. Her armless shoulders terminate in volutes, and below the waist the figure merges into an acanthus bracket with a scroll above and a shell below. Centered under the lip against a shell is a mask of Diana with a crescent above. The absence of a vent hole caused a smooth depression on the inside of the lip, when, after soldering, the silver cooled and contracted.
Marks
To left of handle, date letter m; crowned harp; maker's mark TB (Bennett, p. 176, no. 479)
InscriptionsARMORIALS: arms of Codrington impaling Bethell, for Sir William Codrington, first Baronet of Dodington, co. Gloucester, who married in 1717–18, Elizabeth, daughter of William Bethell, of Swindon, co. York.
ProvenanceBy descent to Sir Gerald Codrington, Dodington Park, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, sold Christie's, London, July 18, 1923, lot 53; Wark estate, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, May 21, 1955, lot 270 [Stephen Ensko, Inc., New York]; Theodora Wilbour Fund in Memory of Charlotte Beebe Wilbour for $5280 (includes 55.382). (Accession Date: June 9, 1955)