Summary

An inkstand in the form of the Round Tower of Windsor Castle, silver-gilt (sterling), and glass, marks of John Linnit, and of the retailer Thomas Hamlet, London, 1823/4. Modelled on Windsor Castle’s Round Tower, the large circular inkstand can be dismantled into six separate parts: 1: a mound with perimeter wall, 2: a bailey and keep (Round Tower), 3: a square inkwell, 4: the inkwell’s glass liner, and – hidden beneath the bailey – 5: a circular trough, and 6: a cylindrical band with two handles. The perimeter wall surrounding the mound is cast and finely chased to resemble a stone wall and parapet. It is soldered to the mound, which is cast and patinated to resemble rough grass with rivulets running down the steep sides. The centre is soldered and pinned to a cylindrical well with flat base made of sheet silver. The bailey and keep are formed of two cast, stamped and chased cylindrical walls with realistically detailed stonework, windows and door, and applied buttresses, steps and moulding. Flat sheet metal is soldered between the two walls to form a moat, and across the top of the keep to form a flat surface. The moat is pierced with six evenly spaced holes, each with a slightly concave oval lip applied round the rim. These open into the circular trough below. The flat surface on top of the keep is pierced with a large square hole which holds the inkwell, which is seamed and applied with a crenellated border. It contains a square blown glass inkwell. Unevenly spaced round the inkwell are five narrow tubes with open ends which extend three centimetres below the surface into the interior of the keep. A flange is soldered to the base of the bailey to enable it to slot into the mound over the well. Hidden within the well are the removable, undecorated, seamed, circular trough with four turn-buttons rivetted to its base, and (sitting between the wall of the well and the circular trough) the cylindrical band with applied cast border of overlapping laurel leaves and two hinged cast floral loop handles (which are possibly gold). The inkstand’s provenance, monumental size, and the number of holders for quills suggest that it was a display piece which may have been used for the signing of treaties and official documents. Presuming the inkstand was for show or occasional use, the inkwell did not need a cover to stop the ink from evaporating. Dry quills would have been placed in the five tubes round the inkwell; whilst the six holes in the moat held wet quills; with the circular trough below catching any excess ink dripping from the wet quills. Christie’s description (see below) mentions a tray with gold handles, so did the cylindrical band once have a hallmarked base, which was (for some unknown reason) removed, or is the band a late addition to the inkstand? Currently, the purpose of both the cylindrical band and the turn-buttons on the base of the trough is unknown. Hallmarks:  Fully marked on the side of the mound: lion passant (sterling), leopard’s head (London), ‘h’ (1823/4), monarch’s head (duty mark), and ‘JL’ (John Linnit*); partially marked on the mound’s wall: monarch’s head, and lion passant; on the bailey: lion passant, leopard’s head, ‘h’, and monarch’s head; on the keep: leopard’s head, lion passant and ‘h’; inside the trough: ‘JL’; on the upper rim of the trough: monarch’s head, lion passant and ‘h’. The cylindrical band, its handles, and the inkwell are unmarked. Retailer’s mark: ‘HAMLET’** on the bailey’s flange and the mound, and stamped with the unrecorded incuse mark: ‘TH’ for Thomas Hamlet * Arthur Grimwade: London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, London, 1990, p 136, no 1833 ** John Culme: The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths Jewellers & Allied Traders 1838-1914, 1974, Vol 1, p 205 Scratch weight: None Heraldry: None

Full description

NOTES ON THE INKSTAND Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), called Windsor 'the Coldest House, Rooms & Passages that ever existed'. It was certainly not the place to attract her son, whose taste for luxury and comfort was well-known. When George IV (1762–1830) became king in 1820, he wished to make the castle the principal residence for the last years of his life, so he instigated a competition to remodel the uncomfortable and dilapidated building. The competition was won by Jeffry Wyatville (1766-1840), with Parliament voting £150,000 towards the work, and the King laying the foundation stone on 12 August 1824. By 1830 £500,000 had been spent on the alterations and a Select Committee was appointed to investigate Wyatville’s expenditure. He reported that ‘a great part of the Round Tower is rebuilt’, and had been ‘raised to twice its former height’. [1] The Duke of Wellington, a friend of George IV, found the king 'thinking of nothing but his improvements & alterations'.  The work eventually cost over £1,000,000, and was not completed until the reign of Queen Victoria. [2] Various artists recorded the building work and the heightening of the keep (the Round Tower), but John Linnit’s inkstand was hallmarked in 1823/4, some months before work started on the castle, so their paintings and prints were produced too late to influence the form of the inkstand. Linnet’s keep appears to be midway between the 12th century building, depicted by 18th century artists like Paul Sandy, and Wyatville’s rebuilt Round Tower. So was Linnet able to view Wyatville’s plans, or did he adapt the inkstand’s design to make it a practical, but imagined, version of what the finished building might resemble? On 17 August 1825 – over a year after the parts of Linnit’s inkstand had been hallmarked – Thomas Hamlet submitted an invoice to the Privy Purse for a long list of jewels and gold chains, as well as Linnit’s inkstand, which was described as a 'Rich chased silver-gilt Inkstand Round Tower Form filled with gold chased Instruments £367 10s 0d’. [3] The cost of the inkstand and the instruments are not listed separately, but it is possible to identify this as the inkstand at Anglesey Abbey through a Christie's auction catalogue. Lot 49 in the sale of the estate of the 5th Marquess Conyngham (1883-1918), held on 10 February 1938, was for ‘A large silver-gilt Inkstand, modelled on the Round Tower of Windsor Castle, with sloping bank, moat and wall – diameter of the base 15½ in – by Hamlet, 1823 – (weight 180 oz 5 dwt) – the tower is detachable and encloses a tray with gold handles, containing a chased gold snuff box, paper-knife, pen knife, scissors, pencil case, compass, seal, ruler and eraser holder’. [4] It is extraordinarily rare to find an inkstand being sold with ‘instruments’, let alone one modelled on Windsor Castle’s Round Tower. That, plus the facts that the diameter of the base is the same, and the current weight roughly the same, leads to the conclusion that the inkstand was owned by the King before being acquired by the Conynghams. Ralph Hyman bought the inkstand at Christie’s for £150. It is presumed that he sold it directly to Lord Fairhaven. Two large black and white photographs of the inkstand are held by Anglesey Abbey, one of which has Hyman’s name written on the back. It shows a large circular box, resembling a seal box with chased Royal arms, sitting in the base of the inkstand. It is possible that this box was not for snuff, as Christie’s state, but for holding a seal or wafers of wax. However, Lord Fairhaven did not acquire any the ‘gold instruments’ with the inkstand, so they must have been sold separately by Hyman. The King bought two further models of the Round Tower from Thomas Hamlet. The first is a small inkstand bought on 4 October 1823 for £40 8s 6d. Hamlet’s invoice records it as a ‘Silver Ink Stand Model of round Tower Windsor: £21 0s 0d, Silver Stand for D(itt)o: £12 12s 0d, Gilding Ink Stand & Stand for D(itt)o: £6 16s 6d’. [5] The second is a wood cup made from part of an oak beam salvaged during the restoration of Windsor Castle. [6] John Linnit made the silver-gilt cover modelled on the Round Tower and the ornate gothic stem and foot. Hamlet’s invoice of 8 January 1828 describes the cup as a ‘Rich Silver gilt Mounted Oak Cup, splendid Chased Mountings, Round Tower on top curiously Chased. Gold Cyphers & Coronets on body: £145 0s 0d; Case for Ditto: £4 14s 6d’. [7] The cup is in a private collection, but the whereabouts of the inkstand is unknown. Anglesey Abbey has a second inkstand retailed by Hamlet which includes a representation of the Round Tower on an oak stand (516456). A large number of objects were made from the salvaged oak beams, which had formed part of the original castle built by Edward III. These include inkstands and boxes which were presented to the men involved with the castle’s restoration. The Royal Collection Trust owns two boxes; one made of tortoiseshell and gold, set with a medal of William IV and an oak disc, which Queen Adelaide presented to Sir Jeffry Wyatville; the other is a simpler oak box with gold mounts and plaque. [8] [1] A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3, Windsor Castle: Architectural History, London, 1923, pp 29-56 [2] George IV’s last great building project, The Royal Collection Trust: https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/furnishing-windsor-castle [3] Royal Collection Trust: George IV’s Privy Purse Accounts for goldsmiths (jewellery bills) GEO/MAIN/26102 [4] Christie, Manson & Wood sale on 10 February 1838, Fine Old English Silver The Property of His Grace the Duke of Norfolk and also of Victor George Henry Francis, 5th Marquess Conyngham, deceased, lot 49 [5] Royal Collection Trust: GEO/MAIN/26073 [6] Christopher Hartop: Royal Goldsmiths The Art of Rundell & Bridge 1797-1843, London, 2005, p 93, fig 84 [7] Royal Collection Trust: GEO/MAIN/26151 [8] Royal Collection Trust: inventory numbers RCIN 3897 and 3742 NOTES ON THOMAS HAMLET AND JOHN LINNIT The early history of Thomas Hamlet (?1770-1853) is far from clear. Obituary notices record him being born at Boughton in Cheshire, and the Chester parish registers record a baptism of a ‘Thomas, son of John and Anne Hamlet of Baguley’ on 5 May 1771, although William Chaffers wrote that he was the natural son of the notorious Sir Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer (1708-1781), and others suggest his father could have been Sir Thomas Dashwood or Sir John Dashwood. [10 & 11] Hamlet is first recorded by Chaffers in London as a young man, when he took a position with ‘Mr. Clark, of Exeter Change (in the Strand), who dealt in cutlery, bronzes, clocks, watches, jewellery and silver goods’ in his ground floor shop. [12] Upstairs, or at the adjoining Lyceum, the entrepreneurial Mr Clark leased an exhibition space where the public paid to view his ‘curiosities’ – animal and human – including a rhinoceros, a lion and lioness, and ‘The Wonderful Spotted Indian’, a poor man imported for his ‘piebaldism’, known today as vitiligo. ‘The public, including royalty and nobility flocked to stare and prod at him’. [13] Clark’s menagerie would not be acceptable by today’s standards, but his obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine reported that ‘His dealings were marked with the utmost integrity, and he realised a fortune estimated at £300,000. What he sold was good and the price asked was invariably the price taken. … Though addicted to the accumulation of money, it was by honourable means.’ [14] Like many young men in want of a fortune Thomas Hamlet had the good sense to marry his employer’s daughter. On 25 April 1791 he wed Elizabeth Clark at St George, Hanover Square. [15] Perhaps part of Thomas Clark’s wealth helped him set up his first shop in St Martin’s Court. Within five or six years he had moved to 1 Princes Street, by Leicester Fields (later Square), where he sold jewels, plate, seals, snuffboxes, cameos, insignia, oriental weapons, furniture, cabinet work, and sculpture. [16] His business flourished so that by the early 19th century he was able to advertise himself as ‘Goldsmith and Jeweller to his Majesty and to their Royal Highnesses the Duke of York, Princess Augusta, Landgravine of Hombourg, Duchess of Gloucester & Princess Sophia’. [17] He entertained members of the royal family, including the Prince Regent, later George IV, at his mansion in Cavendish Square, and in 1813 purchased Denham Court, Buckinghamshire from Sir George Bowyer; homes which were splendidly furnished with paintings, by Titian, Poussin, Annibale Carracci and Sebastiano Ricci, and works of art which included Cardinal Aldobrandini’s twelve Renaissance silver salvers. He was reputed to be worth £500,000, but his life was not without tragedy. In 1803 his wife, Elizabeth, died of her injuries when the Brighton coach overturned, which left Hamlet to raise his daughter, Elizabeth, alone. [18] Despite the appearance of great wealth, his finances were seriously over-extended. His large investment in the General Pearl and Coral Fishery Association followed by his venture into property with Oxford Street’s Bazaar and the Princess Theatre proved disastrous. By 1841 he was declared bankrupt; his shop closed, and his stock including the celebrated collection of art sold. Hamlet’s creditors included William Elliott of Compton Street, silversmith, and John Linnit of 8 Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, goldsmith. [19] Whether they were ever fully repaid is unknown. Chaffers records Hamlet as a Pensioner, who died at the Charterhouse, (a London almshouse founded in 1371), however, their archives have no listing of a Thomas Hamlet in the Poor Brothers Admissions book for 1841-51. Both the 1841 and the 1851 Census record him living with his daughter Elizabeth at 5 Park Place, St James’s, so it seems likely that he retired to live quietly with her in his final years, where he died on 21 February 1853. [20] John Linnit (1785-1868) is principally known for his production of boxes and sword hilts in precious metals. His best known silver boxes have cast figurative scenes on the cover, whilst the gold boxes have finely detailed cast and chased decoration, sometimes with exquisitely executed armorials. He did, however, make some larger objects, including a second inkstand for Thomas Hamlet. Like Anglesey Abbey’s inkstand it is also unusually large and of an extraordinary form. Its 34.4 cm circular base is chased with a border of fluted scale-work divided by chased palm trees, the central chamberstick and pair of ink pots are supported by columns of cherubs. [21] Linnit was baptised at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire in November 1785. There is no record of his apprenticeship, but he entered his first mark on 24 July 1809 with William Atkinson, with whom he worked until 1815, after which he registered his subsequent marks alone. He and his wife moved frequently, but whether this was due to their increasing number of children (ten), or the rise and fall of their finances, is unknown. [22] It appears that Linnit regularly supplied Thomas Hamlet with stock, and in 1834 he was among a small group of goldsmiths who executed an assignment of trust of all the debts, securities, stock in trade, etc, against Hamlet. It is not known how much if any of the debts were settled, but five or six years after Hamlet’s bankruptcy in 1840, Linnit was also declared bankrupt and had to dispose of his home and belongings. John Culme has identified advertisements for the auction of the lease on Linnit’s house at 10 Argyle Place: a ‘first-class DWELLING-HOUSE; containing noble suites of apartments and a small picture gallery, together with the range of extensive well-lighted [work]shops, with separate and distinct entrance, large yard, and warehouses’ and the contents: ‘HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, valuable China, Ebony Cabinet, a Carved Marble Table, a variety of Ornamental Miscellanies, Plate, Linen, Books, &c.’ [23 & 24]. Linnit’s work continued to be admired, and he received an occasional prestigious commission, such as the order from CF Hancock in 1857 to make a 200-guinea silver-gilt ‘Mameluke-hilted’ dress sabre, for the City of London to present to the Duke of Cambridge. [25] However, he never recovered financially, with a final dividend on his bankrupt estate remaining unsettled until 1881, thirteen years after his death in 1868. [10] William Chaffers: Gilda Aurifabrorum: A History of English Goldsmiths and Plateworkers, London, 1899, pp 95-96 [11] Jonathan Marsden Hamlet, Prince of Dealers, Furniture History Society Studies in the History of Furniture and Design, Vol. LVI, London, 2020, pp 189–202 [12] John Culme: The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths Jewellers & Allied Traders 1838-1914, London, 1974, Vol 1, p 205 [13] Sarah Murden: Thomas Clark, Eccentric Entrepreneur and multimillionaire; All things Georgian: https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2024/04/29/thomas-clark-eccentric-entrepreneur-and-multimillionaire/ [14] Ibid. [15] John Culme: The Directory, ibid. [16[ Jonathan Marsden FHS, Vol. LVI [17] John Culme: The Directory, ibid. [18] Sarah Murden: https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2024/04/29/thomas-clark-eccentric-entrepreneur-and-multimillionaire/ [19] Sotheby’s London sale on 4 July 2018, lot 88, John Culme’s Catalogue Note [20] Ibid. [21] Sotheby’s New York sale on 22 October 1993, lot 300 [22] Leslie Southwick: New light on John Linnit: goldsmith, jeweller and boxmaker, The Journal of The Silver Society, No 23, 2008, London, pp81 73-81 [23] The Times, London, Thursday, 19 March 1846, p 12 [24] The Morning Herald, London, Wednesday, 18 March 1846, p 8 [25] Leslie Southwick: New light on John Linnit, ibid. NOTES ON MARQUESS AND MARCHIONESS CONYNGHAM In 1787 Henry Conyngham succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Conyngham, and in 1798 was created Viscount Conyngham of Mountcharles. He was a vigorous supporter of the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland in the Irish House of Lords, and when the Act was passed in 1801 he was elected one of the first 28 Irish peers to take their seats at Westminster.  Thereafter he took little active interest in politics.  He owed his elevation to the marquessate in 1816 to his wife, Elizabeth (1769-1861) whom he married in 1794.  She was the daughter of Joseph Denison (1726-1806) who made a fortune as a cloth merchant then banker, buying estates in both Surrey and Yorkshire. Elizabeth was a noted beauty who advanced through society acquiring influential lovers and admirers along the way.  They included Tsar Nicholas I, but, according to the Duke of Wellington, she was determined to be the mistress of the Prince Regent, later George IV. ‘By the time of his coronation in 1820 George’s relationship with Lady Conyngham was being conducted in public. Their juvenile behaviour encouraged contemporaries to liken them to elephantine stage lovers.’ [21] Wags of the day suggested they were both too corpulent to consummate their relationship, nevertheless, the king was besotted with her, and the Conynghams lived with him in London, Brighton and Windsor. Her power over him was so great that, after she had ordered improvements to the lighting in Brighton Pavilion, the king is reported as saying: ‘Thank you, thank you, my dear, you always do what is right; you cannot please me so much as by doing everything you please, everything to show you are mistress here’. {22] He showered Elizabeth with jewels and gifts, assisted in her family’s careers and her husband’s promotion, including having him made Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle.  Her reign came to abrupt end when George IV died in June 1830. She spent the night packing before fleeing to her brother's house in Paris. Legend has it that she left with ‘wagonloads’ of treasures, possibly including the Hope Diamond. She later heard that the king had bequeathed her all his plate and jewels (some of which, as family heirlooms, were not his to give). She refused the entire legacy, perhaps because she was already in possession of a substantial hoard of treasure, very probably including the Windsor inkstand.  [26] Steven Parissien: George IV: The Grand Entertainment, London, 2001 [27] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.013.6131 Jane Ewart, 2025