Four Beakers
George III
A set of four fully hallmarked beakers, 925‰ Sterling, consisting of two pairs; one pair London 1796 with no maker's mark, the other London 1800 and bearing the maker's mark of Peter & Anne Bateman. Dimensions: 9.7cm (3.8ins) high, 7.8cm (3ins) diameter top, 6.3cm (2.5ins) diameter base.
Hallmarks:
Lion Passant
Crowned Leopard's Head
Date Letter 'A' - London 1796
Hallmarks:
Lion Passant
Crowned Leopard's Head
Date Letter 'E' - London 1800
Maker's Mark:
Peter and Anne Bateman
The pair of beakers dating from 1796 obviously was commissioned to be reproduced by Peter and Anne Bateman in 1800. Both pairs are worked from a sheet of silver with cast or rolled wires soldered to the top and the base of each beaker. Whereas the bases of the 1796 pair are hand-wrought, as can be seen by the hammer marks, the bases of the 1800 pair are chuck-spun, showing the centring point.
Originally, the beakers were mercury gilt, or fire gilt, still fully intact on the inside, but worn and polished off on the outside. The crowned monogram of the 'W' is believed to have been engraved at a later date and to be that of a baron, the pearls adorning the crown denoting lower nobility. The outside wall of each beaker opposite the monogram shows traces of a removed crest or monogram that was there in the first place and to which the loss of the external gilding, remnants of it being visible in the recesses of the wires, is attributable.
For hallmarking purposes the beakers of the 1796 pair bear assay scratches on their respective base. At the time of their making they were subject to an Act of Parliamnet pertaining to Gold and Silver Wares of 1739, stipulating that the maker's mark had to be struck on any objects before hallmarking took place. The absence of the maker's marks on both beakers can only be explained thus in that they must have been struck far too shallow that subsequently they polished off too easily.
All four beakers are showing a fine patina, indicative of decades of use and cleaning. Considering that the original crest or monogram has been removed, their condition is reasonably good.
Ref T002 -
SOLD
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