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Standing bowl
Marked by: WH
English (London)
1582–83
Object Place: Europe, London, England
Medium/Technique
Silver gilt
Dimensions
Overall height: 12.9 cm (5 1/16 in.); diameter 17.2 cm (6 3/4 in.); diameter (of foot) 9.9 cm (3 7/8 in.); weight 453.6 gm (14 oz 12 dwt)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Winston F. C. Guest
Accession Number52.1835
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver-gilt
Silver
Silver
DescriptionThe bowls stand on a high domed foot embossed with clusters of fruit and masks in strapwork. The foot rim is stamped with ovolo decoration. The spool-shaped stem, chased with strapwork against a matted ground, has a flattened central knop that is chased with fruit. The broad flat bowl has a plain exterior, and on the interior, a raised central boss that is embossed with a bust in profile against an irregularly shaped matted ground. On 52.1835, the figure is a female facing right; on 52.1836, a helmeted man is shown facing left. The rim and bottom of the bowl are engraved with a band of arabesques. The style of the engraved coats of arms of the city suggests that they were added about 1670. The feet of the bowls are constructed of several die-stamped wires, joined to a raised section that makes up the dome. The stem is composed of two raised sections, with the seam covered by the raised knop. The bowl is made from a single sheet, raised, embossed, and engraved. The gilding has been renewed.
Marks
On rim, date letter E; lion passant; leopard's head crowned; maker's mark WH a pellet and a crescent (?) below (unrecorded)
InscriptionsArmorials: Engraved on each side, near rim, the arms of the town of Boston, Lincolnshire
Inscriptions: engraved, on underside of foot, B No. 2 14=15
Inscriptions: engraved, on underside of foot, B No. 2 14=15
ProvenanceBought with funds bequeathed by Christopher Audley to the Corporation of Boston, Lincolnshire, sold at auction by George Miller, Jun 1, 1837, lot 74-75, purchased by Thomas Hopkins, Esq.; they descended in his family and were sold at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, May 3, 1906, lot 68, purchased by J. Wells; Crichton Brothers, London, J. P. Morgan (1867–1943), sold Parke Bernet, New York, November 1, 1947, lot 459, purchased by Winston F. C. Guest, December 11, 1952.