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A rare Victorian gilt sterling silver suite of a Warwick vase…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
29-Aug-2017
Lot No.
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Description:
A rare Victorian gilt sterling silver suite of a Warwick vase and cover, and four matching bowls by Benjamin Smith, London 1842, of typical form after the antique, the cover with applied cast vine leaves and two engraved contemporary coat of arms and motto 'Deus Proctor Noster' (God is our Procter) and a finial of a demi-rampant lion, all marked 'B. Smith/Duke St/Linn./Inn Fields', metal liner, the vase 19 cm high, 23 cm wide, the bowls 8 cm high, 12.5 cm wide, 2440 grams total weight of silver, The arms are those of Tennent quartering Emerson, for James Emerson, 1804-1869, who changed his name to Emerson-Tennent in 1832 under the will of William Tennent of Belfast and Tempo, a wealthy Belfast merchant banker. He assumed her name and arms by Royal license in addition to his own in 1832., In 1842 'He was the Chief Promoter of the copyright of Designs Bill, the passing of which gave such satisfaction to the Merchants of Manchester that they presented him with a Service of Plate valued at £3,000', James Emerson, British politican, traveller, author was born in Belfast in 1804. He was educated at Belfast Academy and Trinity College, Dublin. He travelled in Greece, where he befriended Lord Byron and supported the Greek Revolution against the Ottomans. He published three works on Greece between 1826 and 1830. In 1831 he married Letitia, daughter and heiress of William Tennent, who died in 1832. He then adopted his wife's surname and arms. He entered Parliament the same year as Member for Belfast. In 1841 he became Secretary to the Board of Control and in 1843 he was presented with a service of plate by the Calico printers of Great Britain as an acknowledgment of his getting a bill passed in Parliament for the copyright of calico designs [ the cover of the vase is applied with the crest of Emerson - a demi lion rampant holding a battle axe ]., In 1845 he was knighted and appointed Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, where he remained till 1850. He wrote works on the Natural History and Antiquities of Ceylon and was elected President of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, serving from 1846 to 1857. On his return to the United Kingdom he became Member for Lisburn and from 1852 till 1867 he was permanent secretary to the Board of Trade. He is regarded as the inventor of competitive examination for the Civil Service., He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1862. He built Tempo Manor, his family seat, in County Fermanagh to the designs of Sir Charles Lanyon, 1861-69. He was a friend of Charles Dickens and was the dedicatee of Dickens's last completed novel Our Mutual Friend 1865. On his retirement he received a baronetcy. He donated scientific specimens and ethnographic artefacts to the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. He is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Sri Lankan lizard Ceratophora tennentii. A full-length portrait of him hangs in Belfast City Hall. He died in 1869.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified