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A George III sterling silver tea urn with carved ivory loop…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
16-Nov-2015
Lot No.
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Description:
A George III sterling silver tea urn with carved ivory loop handles and engraved contemporary coat of arms by Benjamin Smith II & James Smith III, London 1810, the original coiled snake finial by Paul Storr. 36 cm high, 4820 grams. The arms are those of Baring quartering Herring and impaling Bingham, probably for Rt. Hon. Alexander Baring (1774-1864), first Baron Ashburton, of Ashburton, Devon, who married Anne Louisa Bingham. Alexander was the second son of Sir Francis Baring (1740-1810), first Baronet, of Larkbeer, Devon, eminent London merchant, a Director of the East India Company from 1779, Chairman 1792-93, married 1767 Harriet, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury. Sir Francis helped finance the Napoleonic wars and underwrote Marine Insurance. Alexander was brought up in his father’s business and became a partner at Hope & Co. The firm was renamed Baring Brothers in 1806. In 1807 he became a partner in the family firm, along with his brothers Thomas and Henry. By the time of Sir Francis’s death in 1810, his company had become the leading banking house in Europe. Of this great mercantile family the Duc de Richelieu remarked `There are six main powers in Europe, Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Prussia and Baring Brothers’. On the death of his father in 1810, and by his father’s will, Alexander became the head of the family firm, probably when the tea urn was commissioned. In 1811, when Henry Hope died, he merged the London offices of Hope & Co. into Baring Brothers & Co. He sat in Parliament in 1806 and 1826-35. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Duke of Wellington’s projected ministry of 1832. He was Master of the Mint in Robert Peel’s government and on Peel’s retirement was created Baron Ashburton in 1835. It was probably at this time that the Baron’s coronet was added to the arms on the Tea Urn. He was sent to the USA for various land deals and formed wide connections with American houses. In 1798 Alexander had married Anne Louisa, daughter of the American statesman William Bingham, of Philadelphia, US senator and a member of one of the wealthiest families in Pennsylvania, securing for Baring Brothers, until the American Civil War 1861-65, the pioneering financing of US foreign trade and selling US bonds. In 1842 he was sent as ambassador to the USA where he negotiated with US Secretary of State Daniel Webster the Webster Ashburton Treaty concerning the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. He was also active in suppressing the Slave Trade in the USA. He patronised Art and formed a fine collection of paintings. He was a trustee of the British Museum and the National Gallery. He was a Privy Councillor and Doctor of Civil Law, Oxford University. Alexander died at Longleat in 1864. The town of Ashburton, New Zealand is named after him. There was a strong relationship between the Smith family of silversmiths and the renowned, Paul Storr, both producing works for Rundell & Bridge, which may explain the coiled snake finial. See London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, The Marks and Lives by Arthur G Grimwade, 1976
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Silver: Tea & Coffee Pots