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Ewer and basin
Silversmith: Unknown (Probably)
Silver; embossed, chased and matted, and decorated with acanthus leaves and putti amid scrolling foliage
Silver; with embossed and chased decoration, and matted and plain surfaces. Helmet-shaped ewer on a short stem and oval foot, with projecting covered spout, the cover perforated at the end; cast harp-shaped handle; and covex cover with a raised circle in the centre and a cast 'turned' finial. The body of is decorated below the rim with a frieze of putti amid scrolling foliage separated by a filet from a calyx of acanthus leaves growing upwards from the junction with the stem which has a gadrooned 'frill' half way up. The spout is wrapped in acanthus foliage, and there is a leaf extending downwards from the top of the handle. The foot has a border of scrolling foliage, and the cover has acanthus foliage radiating from the raised centre. (A) Oval basin with applied reeded edge, wide rim, and shallow oval well. It has a plain centre, and on the rim, four putti amid scrolling foliage with a matted ground.
History note: Sir William Lockhart of Lee (1621-1675); by descent to an anonymous lender in 1977 from whom purchased
Purchased with the Golland and Rylands Funds with a grant from the B.N. Stuart Bequest to the National Art Collections Fund and Grand-in-Aid from the Regional Fund of the Museums and Galleries Commission
Method of acquisition: Bought (1985-10-21) by Anonymous
17th Century, third quarter
Louis XIV (1638-1715)
Circa
1656
CE
-
Circa
1660
CE
The forms of this silver ewer and basin, and their decoration of acanthus leaves, and putti amid scrolling foliage may have been derived from engraved designs by Jean Lepautre (1618-82). The ewer and basin are comparable to Parisian work about 1650-75, but because they are unmarked, their attribution to Paris is uncertain. This is tantalizing, because French silver of that period is extremely rare, much of it having been destroyed in melts ordered by Louis XIV later in his reign to raise funds for his military campaigns. According to family tradition, the ewer was given by the King to Sir William Lockhart of Lee (1621-75) while he was Cromwell's ambassador to Paris, between April 1656 and March 1657. After Cromwell's death in 1658, Lockhart delivered Richard Cromwell's greetings to the King, and remained in France until 1660. A royal gift made by a goldsmith working in the Galerie du Louvre need not have been marked, but a gift in the late 1650s cannot be confirmed becasue the registres des présents du roi do not cover that period. Lockhart made further visits in the years up to his death in 1675, and in 1672 received a boite à portrait de diamonds (a portrait of the King, framed with diamonds).
Ewer - To Finial Top
Height 21 cm
Height 8¼ in
Basin
Length 41.5 cm
Length 16⅜ in
Width 30.2 cm
Width 11⅞ in
Ewer - Whole
Weight 880 g
Weight 28:5 oz:dwt
Basin - Whole
Weight 923 g
Weight 29:13 oz:dwt
Decoration
Finial
Handle
Raised (metal forming process) : Silver, raised, embossed, chased, and matted, with cast handle and finial
Accession number: M.468 & A-1985
Primary reference Number: 118340
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
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IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Ewer and basin" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/118340 Accessed: 2025-03-28 17:17:31
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/118340
|title=Ewer and basin
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-03-28 17:17:31|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa37/large_M_468_20_26_20A_1985_dc2.jpg"
alt="Ewer and basin"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Ewer and basin</figcaption>
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