Jewish interest – A rare George III sterling silver milk jug and twin handled sugar bowl, London 1811 by William Burwash and Richard Sibley (reg. 7^th Oct 1805)

Of hemispherical form upon a collet foot, he waisted necks with moulded rims. Each with an angular handle with acanthus leaf and fluted junctions, the milk jugs handle an unattached flyover. Gilt interiors. Each engraved to the side with a coat of arms with a helm above and foliate mantling, surmounted by two crests; firstly ‘two mounts as in the arms therefrom issuant a demi-lion or supporting a flag-staff proper thereon a forked pennon flying towards the sinister azure inscribed ‘Jerusalem’ in Hebrew characters gold’, then to the dexter ‘an eastern crown or the rim charged with two roses gules’. All of this above the motto Avanti. Each fully marked underneath. (2)

Sugar bowl length – 16.7 cm / 6.5 inches

Total weight – 608 grams / 19.55 ozt

The arms are for Montefiore

For Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885)

Sir Moses Montefiore was an important Italian and British Sephardic Jew, whose efforts in financing and philanthropy are pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism. was the son of Joseph Elias Montefiore and his wife, Rachel Mocatta. Sir Moses married Judith Barent Cohen (1784-1862) on the 10^th June 1812. Judith was the daughter of Levy Barent Cohen, a Dutch-born British financier

Sir Moses and Judith settled in a home in New Court, St. Swithin's Lane, next door to Nathan Maier Rothschild whom in 1806 had married in Judith’s sister Hannah. Nathan Maier Rothschild headed the Rothschild bank in Great Britain where Sir Moses acted as stokebroker for the bank later to become business partners. He retired from this enterprise in 1820. He went on to devote the rest of his life to philanthropy holding many positions including governor of Christs’ Hospital in 1836 and Sherriff of London from 1837-8, for which he was knighted by Queen Victoria, later granted a baronetcy in 1846 for his service to the Jewish people. Sir Moses worked closely with organisations that campaigned for the abolition of slavery. A Government loan raised by the Rothschilds and Montefiore in 1835 enabled the British Government to compensate plantation owners and thus abolish slavery in the Empire.

In 1831 Montefiore purchased the estate of East Cliff near Ramsgate from the 1st Marquess Wellesley, previously a home of Queen Caroline while Princess of Wales.

Montefiore Family and Silver

The arms on the present lot are as of yet the earliest identified piece of surviving Montefiore silver, as such it is important to note that there are subtle changes between this and the other pieces known to bear Sir’s Moses’s arms and other members of the family.

The motto for the Montefiore family is traditionally known as Think and Thank, where the arms were granted to Sir Moses’s in 1819. The device of the lion for the Montefiore family is used on a Torah Ark curtain presented to the synagogue of Ancona in 1630. Dr L. Lowe notes in his account of the diaries of Sir Moses and Judith that a manuscript in Judith Lady Montefiore's Theological College at Ramsgate contains ancient heraldic emblems of the Montefiore family which each element – cedar tree, lion rampant and hills have their own motto. It is suspected by the author that Sir Moses’s altered these mottos in the designing of his arms. Hence it is very likely that in the early days of adopting these arms there were some alterations before his marriage to Judith in 1812 and the arms being officially registered in 1819. These arms on the present lots are engraved with the motto Avanti (Forward) whereas all other Montefiore items use Think and Thank, including his marital arms as used on his own seal (sold Christie’s New York, 10 April 2001, Lot 177 $105,000 incl. premium). It is these arms that are found upon the grand gilt sideboard pieces marked for 1807 and 1808 by Benjamin Smith III as well as Benjamin Smith III & James Smith II, respectively. These grand pieces of silver were certainly engraved after 1812 due to his marriage and were more likely acquired circa 1820 once he had amassed considerable wealth. Sir Moses made use of a two crests, the other being the eastern crown, this is found upon his book plate as the principle crest with the lion below the marital arms accollé , a similar arrangement is echoed on the Montefiore centrepiece of 1840 by Mortimer & Hunt, as well as his portrait in later life as a widower in 1874 by George Richmond R.A (1809-96) whereby the arms depict the Eastern Crown first.

The present lot must hail from a simpler time in Sir Moses’s life while still a bachelor, where between 1810-1814 he was also enrolled as part of the 3rd Regiment of Surrey Local Militia as Captain Montefiore. Another early piece of Montefiore family silver are a pair of sauce tureens of 1813 by Craddock and Reid, which bears the marital arms of his brother Abraham Montefiore (1788 - 1824), and his second wife, Henriette Rothschild (1791 - 1866) who were married on the 23^rd August 1815, these must have been engraved before Abraham’s death in 1824 and use the Think and Thank motto in gothic script, which is also how the motto is found on the splendid gilt side board plate previously mentioned (the tray sold Sotheby’s 25 Oct 2016, lot 575 £143,000 incl. premium).

Sir Moses’s “castle top” snuff box, Birmingham 1854 by Hilliard & Thompson, was sold Mathew Barton 27^th May 2017, (£48,800 incl. premium)

Provenance, sold Bonham’s Edinburgh 26 Sep 2018, Lot 156 (part-lot)