A rare James II sterling silver 'Chinoiserie' porringer, London 1685 by John Richardson (free. 1669, died. 1698)

Twin handled rounded cylindrical form with a gently everted rim. The body with flat chased decoration of fancy birds between stylised foliage to each side. Plain C scroll handles. The underside engraved with contemporaneous initials S over I M in Roman script.

Length – 15.5 cm / 6 inches

Weight – 145 grams / 4.66 ozt

John Richardson, whose mark of a script IR in monogram, was thoroughly researched by Cathlyn and Simon Davidson in 2010, where this mark had previously been ascribed to Alexander Roode (Pickford 1989). Surviving pieces bearing this mark are found between 1669 to 1694, where between 1683 and 1688 seven pieces are recorded with chinoiserie style decoration. (Mitchell, D. (2017) Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London: their lives and their marks. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, p. 392-4).

1683 Chinoiserie porringer (Christie’s 1962)

1683 Chinoiserie porringer (Christie’s 1975)

1683 Chinoiserie porringer (Christie’s 1981)

1684 Chinoiserie salver (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

1685 Chinoiserie tankard (Gilbert Collection)

1688 Chinoiserie porringer (Huntington Collection)

Ricardson born in Worcester in the early 1640s, was apprenticed to the prominent London goldsmith Henry Greenway in 1661, where he eventually took over his master's business when Greenway retired in 1670, situated in Staining Lane “[…] four doors up from Haberdashers’ Hall […]”. He left London in 1695 to return to Worcester.

A chinoiserie porringer of 1683, that appears to bear this mark and is presumably one of the three listed above was sold, as Alexander Roode, from the collection of Lord Birdwood Christie’s 24 May 2017, lot 141 (£4,375 incl. premium)