- Museum number
- 1969,0705.33
- Description
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Silver spice box with nutmeg grater on four lion feet; two lids with central hinge open to reveal four compartments, one comprising half the box, the other half of the box divided into two and in the centre a cylindrical compartment to hold the removable silver grater. The grater has a floral knop which stands proud of the lids forming a knop to the box itself. The exterior surfaces covered with an engraved and chased pattern of squares, and each side engraved with cypher ES under ducal coronet; London hallmarks 1715; maker's mark.
- Production date
- 1715
- Dimensions
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Height: 7 centimetres
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Length: 12 centimetres
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Width: 8 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- This spice box illustrated in J. Hayward, 'Huguenot Silver in England 1688-1727', London 1959, Fig. 68B. For a pair of similar spice boxes of the same rectangular shape with the mark of David Willaume and dated 1709, see Y. Hackenbroch, 'English and other silver in the Irwin Untermyer Collection', 1963, no. 80, pl. 93. See also H. Tait, ‘Huguenot Silver made in London c. 1690-1720. The Peter Wilding Bequest to the British Museum’, Part II, Connoisseur, September 1972, pp. 25-36, ill. p. 32, pls. 9-10.
For more recent literature, see C. Hartop, 'The Huguenot Legacy. English Silver 1680-1769 from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection', London 1996, no. 17, for a spice box-cum-nutmeg grater of the same construction (with removable grater forming the knop and two side compartments), but oval in form instead of an octagonal rectangle. Hartop illustrates a French oval example in the Louvre and notes that the spice box is a French form and is extremely rare in English silver. He also records that they seem to have been called 'salt boxes' during the early 18th century: the compartments were intended for salt and pepper. Nutmeg was in great vogue at the end of the 17th century and was also an esential ingredient of punch and other warm alcoholic drinks.
The same shape was used for a simple spice box without the nutmeg grater, see Hartop 1996, no. 21.: The all-over engraved decoration of this piece illustrates Tanqueray’s move away from plain surfaces with applied decoration to flat surfaces decorated with a unifying pattern, see for example1969,0705.12.a-b. He entered his mark in 1713 and so this is one of his earliest works. The cypher ‘ES’ may refer to Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1667-1722). The Duchess of Somerset was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Anne from 1710-14, and Became one of the Queen’s closest friends. The British Museum holds a jeton of 1682 with the Duchess of Somerset’s monogram and coat of arms, see M.7635. The monogram here has the E’s facing outwards instead of inwards, so without additional provenance information it is not possible to confirm the Duchess of Somerset’s ownership of the spice box.
Previous owner:
add Earl of Lichfield: Thomas Edward Anson (1883-1960), 4th Earl of Lichfield
Acquisition history:
This sale included other items from Shugborough, the Lichfield estate, sold by Thomas Edward Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1883-1960), for example, four Regency silver-gilt wine-coolers which fetched £231, less than the spice box, an indication of the high prices paid by collectors for Huguenot silver at the time.
- Location
- On display (G46/dc14)
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
2009 Apr 4-Jul 19, London, V&A, Baroque 1620-1800: Style in the Age of Magnificence
- Acquisition date
- 1969
- Acquisition notes
- Sold from the Earl of Lichfield sale Christie's (London) 26 November 1941, lot 94 for £270.This sale included other items from Shugborough, the Lichfield estate, sold by Thomas Edward Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1883-1960), for example, four Regency silver-gilt wine-coolers which fetched £231, less than the spice box, an indication of the high prices paid by collectors for Huguenot silver at the time.
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1969,0705.33