Height 27.5 cm; Width 20.3 cm; Diameter 12.3 cm; Weight: 1353 g.

English silver is generally considered to be boring and thus only attracts moderate interest. However, one period is an exception: the period between 1680 and 1760, when, after Louis XIV repealed the in 1685, when the Huguenots, who were mainly Protestants, left France after Louis XIV repealed the Edict of Nantes of 1598. The craftsmen among them helped the courts of Berlin and London in particular to achieve new splendour. Among the goldsmiths working for London, in addition to the most famous representative of his guild, Paul de Lamerie, Paul Crespin, Pierre Harache, Philip Rollos, Simon Patin and especially David Willaume I deserve special mention.

David Willaume was born in Metz in 1658 and is known to have had a shop called ‘The Windsor Castle’ in Charing Cross from 1686. From 1697-1712, his address was the ‘Golden Ball’ in Pall Mall, in the fashionable St James's district of London, and from 1719 he was based in St James's Street itself. He retired from business around 1728 and died around 1740. His work is eloquent testimony to the fact that the wealthiest and most important families of his time were among his customers. His ingenuity and the impeccable workmanship of the silver objects make many of them true masterpieces.

His work includes, for example, presentation jugs that are now in the possession of the Dukes of Portland and Abercorn and the Earl of Fitzwilliam. His reputation is evident not least from the jug that has been in the Victoria & Albert Museum (British Gallery, room 546, case 11, inv. 822-1890) since 1890.

The present gilt-brass presentation jug is decorated with the alliance coat of arms of Philip Yorke (1690-1764) and Margaret Cocks (-1761), who married on 16 May 1719, and the baron's coronet. The following year, Philip Yorke was knighted and took up the position of Solicitor General. Four years later, Philip Yorke was appointed Attorney General, a position he held until 1733, before being promoted to Lord Chief Justice of England and raised to the rank of 1st Baron Hardwicke on 23 November 1733. From 1737-1756, Philip Yorke served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain – and thus as the presiding officer of the House of Lords – and was elevated to the rank of 1st Earl of Hardwicke on 2 April 1754 in recognition of his services. This allows us to narrow down the date of the coat of arms on the pot, which was made by David Willaume I in the time of Queen Anne in 1707/1708, to between 1733 and 1754.

It was during this period that Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, the largest and most beautiful estate in the area, was acquired in 1739. It has been in the hands of the National Trust since 1976. The pot's plastically modelled handle in the shape of a corpulent, elderly, bearded man is reminiscent of the figure of Bacchus, so it can be assumed that the pot was intended for wine, not water, like many other examples, and was thus destined for the dining room at Wimpole Hall. Here, the representative character of the gilded silver object will have impressively demonstrated the elevated social position of the owner to the guests.

The representative character of such jugs is also evident in the late 19th century's recourse to models from around 1700, such as the Helmkanne (Helmet Jug) won as a regatta prize in 1897/1898, which once belonged to the German Emperor and is now kept in Doorn House (Inv. HuD 7839) as a gift from Her Majesty the Queen (Victoria). 

Literature:

On the outstanding importance of this silversmith, see also: Hugh, Honour, Orafi, Argentieri, 1972, pp. 138-141.

Outstanding silver objects from around 1700 can be found, for example, in the Alan and Simone Hart man Collection, see Christopher Hartop, The Huguenot Legacy, English Silver 1680-1760, London 1996.

For David Willaume I. see the Koopman internet entry.

On the helmet jug in House Doorn, see H. Schadt/I. Schneider et al., Kaiserliches Gold und Silber, Schätze der Hohenzollern aus dem Schloß Huis Doorn, exhibition catalogue Hanau, Berlin 1985, pp. 103-104: 77.

On the price of presentation jugs by David Willaume I. see, for example, the art prize yearbook, vol. 38A, 1983, p. 259; vol. 43:2, 1988, p. 355; vol. 47:2, 1992, p. 375.