A George II sterling silver soup tureen, London 1739 by Peter Archambo

A George II sterling silver soup tureen, London 1739 by Peter Archambo

Of oval bombe form raised upon four cast and applied husk shell and scroll feet with rocaille junctions, each side with opposable acanthus capped loop handles with a symmetrical rocaille C scroll junction. Each side with cast and applied ornament of an asymmetrical rocaille C scroll cartouche flanked by palm branches to one side and acanthus to the other, all surmounted by a rocaille pediment. The pull of ogee domed lid surmounted by a cast an applied figure of an eagle with wing’s displayed upon an asymmetrical C scroll and rocaille terrace. The incurved section of the lid with a central asymmetrical C scroll cartouche reserved with chased fish scale pattern, flanked by palm branches to one side and a floral garland to the other. The sides of lid with unusual cast and applied masks of moustachioed Turkish men in turbans reserved within a rocaille surround, these adjoining the central cartouche with floral swags. A cartouche to base and lid later engraved with a crest of two arms embowed in armour each hand grasping a spear erect. Engraved underneath with scratchweight 122=8, scratched the same to interior of lid. Fully marked underneath and to the interior lid, the handles unmarked.

Length – 45.7 cm / 18 inches

Weight – 3731 grams / 119.95 ozt

The crest is for Armistead

Possibly for the Armistead family of Cranage Hall, Chesire, the present version built in 1828-29 for Lawrence Armistead (1790-1874), who had inherited the former Cranage Hall from his father Rev. John Armitstead (1764-1814) who married his first wife Catherine Fenton (1752-1798) on the 14^th Nov 1787. Catherine the co-heir of John Fenton of Betley Hall (1721-1782), alongside her sister Lady Anne Craddock Fenton (1751-1821) wife of Sir Thomas Fletcher, 1st Baronet (1747–1812). John Armistead purchased Cranage Hall in 1814 aided by his first wife’s inheritance.

Without further heraldic or documentary accounts a definitive identification remains impossible but there is certainly precedent for earlier 18^th century plate being re-sold in the late 18^th and early 19^th century, such as the Drury-Lowe tureen of 1736 by Paul de Lamerie.

The use of a Turkish, or Indian, male mask in English silver is a much rarer occurrence than the more frequently employed classical maiden or grotesques found throughout Baroque and Rococo period silver. As a variant of the Chinoiserie style, known by the French term Turqueries or Turquoiserie, deploying a romanticised interpretation of Ottoman era dress and interiors for use in Western European arts and decorative arts. A prominent and well deployed vision of this found in Charles André van Loo’s 1747 painting of Madame de Pompadour portrayed as a Turkish lady taking coffee. There are other examples of the Turkish mask in silver by Archambo, such as a pair of candlesticks of 1744 illustrated in Brett, V. (1986), The Sotheby’s Directory of Silver 1600-1940, London : Phillip Wilson Publishers, p, 190-91, fig, 798. An earlier more elaborate version of this design of candlestick marked for 1738 by Christian Hillan also utilising the Turquoiserie mask on the base, sold these rooms, 11 July 2016, lot 116. The use of an eagle finial is noted on many soup tureens of the period, including those by Archambo and Charles Kandler.

A pair of male and female Turks was modelled circa 1744 by P. Reinicke and J. F. Eberlin for Meissen were based upon the 1736 engraving Le Turc Amoureux by Nicholas Lancret. As such porcelain figures were placed on the table as ornaments alongside silver, such as soup tureens and candlesticks, it would make for a highly fashionable display in 1730’s and 40’s Europe.