Een bijzondere Engelse George II theebus met rijkelijk gegraveerd decor en wapenschilden, Londen, meestermerk Paul de Lamerie, gedateerd 1745

H 14 - L 10 - D 6 cm 

Weight: 397 g

One of the leading English silversmiths in the first half of the 1700s, Paul de Lamerie was renowned for his technical proficiency and innovative designs using bold organic forms. De Lamerie's parents, French Huguenots, probably left France for religious reasons in the 1680s, emigrating to the Netherlands before settling in London in 1691. Although de Lamerie's early works were simple, unornamented shapes, by the 1730s he was one of the first English silversmiths to work in the ornate Rococo style (link).

The tea caddy of rectangular form, with rounded shoulders, the hinged cover surmounted by a shell finial, the sides decorated with C scrolls and trailing floral garlands, the front and reverse each with a different engraved heraldic crest, one with motto 'Quod me mihi heddit amicum', relating to the Haslewood family of Shropshire.

Provenance:

- In the collection of George S. Palmer when sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1913. Sold Christie's, 4 June 2013, Lot 354.

- A Belgian private collection.

Condition: (UV-checked)

- In very good overall condition consistent with age, with the usual minor wear and minor traces of use. 

- A superficial dent on one of the sides, almost invisible to the naked eye.