Rosewater sprinkler
Category
Silver
Date
1770 - 1800
Materials
Enamel, Silver
Measurements
320 mm (H)
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1180721
Summary
A pair silver and silver filigree rosewater sprinklers with lotus bud finials and long tapering necks on spherical bodies, and a domed base; decorated with applied enamelled foliage and flowers. Ensuite with the stands, POW.CLIVE.S.14. Chinese (Canton), late 18th century. Exhibitions _ Wrexham 'Art Treasures Exhibition', 1876. Cardif, 1987. See 'Treasures from India' catalogue pg.127. S.13.1 is on the viewing right of the image, S.13.2 on the viewing left.
Provenance
This set was made in imitation of Indian forms and therefore probably for the Indian market. It was certainly part of the collection brought from India by Henrietta Herbert, Lady Clive, as the saucers bear the engraved inscriptions 'These/GULAB DUANS/were found in the/sleeping Apartment of/ TIPOO SULTAN/on the 4th May 1799 when/SERINGAPATAM/was taken by storm, &/TIPOO was slain. They/were presented to the /COUNTESS OF POWIS.' A label on the reverse of one of the saucers records that they were lent to the Wrexham Art Treasures Exhibition in 1876 by Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (6th Bart). In 1817 Henrietta Clive had married his father, the 5th Baronet. Part of the indigenous collection of Powis Castle which Edward Henry Herbert, 5th Earl of Powis agreed with the Commissioners of the Inland Revenue to be accepted in part satisfaction to the extent of £158,400 of the Estate duty for which he was accountable in connection with the death of the Right Honourable George Charles, 4th Earl of Powis, on 9th November 1952. Acceptance was effected when the objects were delivered in good condition to the Representative of the Treasury. The contract of the 'Offer of Property in Satisfaction of Estate Duty under the National Land Fund Scheme' was completed on 21st March 1963. This collection of chattels was accepted in lieu of tax by Her Majesty's Treasury and immediately transferred to the ownership of the National Trust on 29th November 1963 as the Treasury saw it desirable that the objects should remain associated with Powis Castle. Agreed by National Trust, Powis Estate Trustees and John George Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis in 25th June 2009 that this item is part of the collection of items transferred to the Treasury in 1963 and therefore owned by the National Trust.