A pair of George III sterling silver covered vegetable or entrée dishes, London 1805 by William Burwash and Richard Sibley I (reg. 7th Oct 1805)

A pair of George III sterling silver covered vegetable or entrée dishes, London 1805 by William Burwash and Richard Sibley I (reg. 7^th Oct 1805)

Of circular form with rounded bases, gadrooned rims, each with hinged D shape handles. The lids gently domed with cavetto edge surmounted by reeded loop handles. Each base engraved with a crest of a peacock in his pride, below a bishops mitre, traces of same crest to one lid. Each fully marked, one stamped with a numeral 1 and the other a numeral 4. (2)

Diameter – 23 cm / 9 inches

Weight - 2461 grams / 79.12 ozt

The crest is for Pelham

There are two bishopric members of the Pelham family who are candidates for these dishes The most likely is George Pelham (1766 – 1827), the third son of Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester (1725-1805) and Anne Frankland, daughter of Frederick Meinhardt Frankland. He was educated at Westminster and Clare College, Cambridge, graduating in 1787. He also served from 1815 to 1827 as Clerk of the Closet. He married Mary Rycroft, daughter of Rev. Sir Richard Rycroft, 1st Bt. and Penelope Stonehewer, in 1792. He died in 1827, without issue. He was bishop of Bristol (1802–1807), Exeter (1807–1820) and Lincoln (1820–1827). Also possibly for John Thomas Pelham (1811 – 1894), the above's nephew as the third son of Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester and his wife Lady Mary Henrietta Juliana Osborne, eldest daughter of Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds. In 1857 he was consecrated the 64th Bishop of Norwich, retiring in 1893.

A most similarly formed pair of covered dishes marked for London 1799 by Robert Sharp, sold Bonham's, Knightsbridge, 26 Sep 2018, Lot 172 (£3250, incl. premium), and again Bonham’s Knightsbridge, 18 Oct 2023, lot 352 (£3072 incl. prem)