Coaster
Paul Storr (1771-1844)
Category
Silver
Date
1814 - 1815
Materials
Silver-gilt, sterling, wood, baize
Measurements
8.4 x 13.5 cm; 14.4 cm (Diameter of both bases)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 516460
Summary
A set of three wine coasters, silver-gilt (sterling), wood, and baize, mark of Paul Storr, for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, London, 1814/5. Each cylindrical coaster has openwork sides cast in two sections, soldered and finely chased with reclining figures of young Dionysus with his thyrsus gazing upon sleeping lionesses, beneath vine leaves and grapes. An everted cast reed and ribbon border is soldered to the rim, and a cast border of acanthus leaves is soldered to the base. The interior has a flat silver-gilt base engraved with a coat of arms. The turned wood base is held to the sides by an undecorated flange which tucks beneath the wood, which is partially covered with green baize. Heraldry: The arms, crest and supporters are those of BINGHAM quartering SARSFIELD and TURBERVILL, almost certainly for Field Marshall Sir George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan after 1839; or his younger brother, the Hon Richard Camden Bingham. Hallmarks: Fully marked on the flange: ‘PS’ (Paul Storr*), lion passant (sterling), leopard’s head (London), ‘T’ (1814/5), and monarch’s head (duty mark); and stamped ‘RUNDELL BRIDGE ET RUNDELL AURIFICES REGIS AND PRINCIPIS WALLIAE REGENTIS BRITANNIAS’; and part marked on the inner base of coasters 1 and 3: ‘PS’, lion passant, and monarch’s head. *Arthur Grimwade: London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, London, 1990, p 163, no 2235 Scratch weight: None
Full description
By 1814 Paul Storr had been in partnership with Philip Rundell, John Bridge and Edmund Waller Rundell and running their Dean Street workshop for several years. These coasters, therefore, bear the mark of Storr along with the Latin inscription ‘RUNDELL BRIDGE ET RUNDELL AURIFICES REGIS AND PRINCIPIS WALLIAE REGENTIS BRITANNIAS’, showing the firm to have been appointed Royal Goldsmith to both George III and the Prince Regent. Rundell’s employed some of the finest designers of the day, including the artist and engraver Thomas Stothard RA (1755–1834), who may have designed these coasters. The Victoria & Albert Museum holds a large body of Stothard’s work, ranging from designs for large sculptural monuments to prints of contemporary actresses, as well as designs for metalwork, including for the great Wellington Shield presented to the Duke of Wellington by the grateful merchants and bankers of London in 1821, which was produced by Rundell’s great rival, Green, Ward & Green. Stothard’s biography states that he made a ‘masterly set of drawings for the house of Messrs Rundell & Bridge of Bacchanals. These were intended for the handles of knives and forks.’ Storr produced Bacchanalian pattern flatware from 1812. The style of Anglesey Abbey’s coasters proved popular. In 1814/5 Storr made a set of twelve for the Duke of Wellington’s Ambassadorial Service. A year later he made eight for Edward Lascelles, Earl of Harewood. [1] Oriel College owns four; and Attingham Park has eight which are engraved with the royal arms, presumed to be part of William Noel-Hill’s ambassadorial service. [2 & 3] [1] NM Penzer: Paul Storr 1771-1844 Silversmith and Goldsmith, London, 1954, p 180, plate LI [2] EA Jones: Catalogue of Plate of Oriel College, Oxford, 1934, pp 78-79, plate 12 [3] Attingham Park, Shropshire: National Trust Inventory Number: 609233 Heraldry There is some distress to surface of the base plates of these coasters and a very few traces of erasure of previous engraving of another coat of arms which together with the slightly later style of cartouche indicate the purchase of second hand plate. The Binghams were an established Anglo-Irish family with extensive land holdings in the west of Ireland. Other than the earldom, the only peerage pertaining to the Binghams was Clanmorris, a barony created in 1800, granted different supporters and using different quarterings. The supporters in the armorials relate specifically to the Bingham family as Earls of Lucan. It should be borne in mind, however, that instructions for heraldic matters were not necessarily accurate, carried out with minute compliance, or indeed noticed and understood by the client, which makes unravelling this coat of arms a matter of some conjecture. The lack of an earl’s coronet excludes Richard, 2nd Earl of Lucan (1764-1839) and suggests his two sons as possible candidates, both of whom were minors when the coasters were hallmarked. The design of the engraving suggests it was added later, in the second quarter of the 19th century. Without impaled arms for a wife or cadency marks, it is difficult to choose between the brothers who were: Field Marshall Sir George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (1800-88). He bore the courtesy title of Lord Bingham from his birth until inheriting as 3rd Earl in 1839. If the coasters belonged to him, the lack of impaled arms would suggest engraving before his marriage in 1829 to Anne (1809-77) daughter of Robert, 6th Earl of Cardigan. The earldom continued through his direct descendants. Given his extravagant lifestyle in the army (he lavished such expense on his officers’ uniforms that they became known as ‘Bingham’s Dandies’), it could be argued that the use of supporters to which he was not technically entitled until he inherited the earldom, would have been in character. From the early age of sixteen he pursued an army career, was commissioned as ensign in 1816, and lieutenant-colonel 1826–37. His unfortunate appointment as commander of the Cavalry Division upon the outbreak of the Crimean War, 1853-56, with his brother-in-law the 7th Earl of Cardigan having the more junior command of the Light Brigade within that division, did nothing to enhance their conduct; the two men hated each other. He was recalled to England following the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade, returning in 1855; his request for a court martial was refused. He had no further military employment although he received further promotions culminating in that of Field Marshall in 1887, the year before his death. Lucan was an appalling Irish landlord during the Great Famine, but on the other hand he initiated the significant compromise that enabled practising Jews to enter Parliament, the first of whom was Baron Lionel de Rothschild, ironically the largest private provider of relief during the potato famines through the co-founding of the British Relief Association. The Hon. Richard Camden Bingham (1801-72) Was the younger son of the 2nd Earl. There is no cadency mark to support his ownership of these coasters, but the technically incorrect use of supporters could also have applied to him. Bingham married Maria Thomas in 1848 at the age of 47, by which time he would have had his own establishment for some years; the lack of an impalement in the arms, and the style of the engraving, would suggest acquisition prior to his marriage. There were no descendants. Pursuing a diplomatic career, he was Secretary to the Legation to Munich, Turin, Lisbon and Naples, and Chargé d’Affaires to Venezuela from 1852-58. There appears to be no extant will, so the inheritance path of Bingham’s assets remains opaque. Papers in National Archives (FO519) and University of Southampton Library (MS62; NRA 12889). Jane Ewart, 2025 Heraldry by Gale Glynn
Provenance
Either Field Marshall Sir George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (1800-1888) or The Hon. Richard Camden Bingham (1801-1872) (Urban) Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Baron Fairhaven (1896-1966) bequeathed by Lord Fairhaven to the National Trust along with the house and the rest of the contents National Trust
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, the Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Paul Storr (1771-1844), goldsmith Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, manufacturer
References
Hartop 2005: Christopher Hartop, Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell and Bridge 1797-1843, (John Adamson, Cambridge, 2005) Hartop 2015: Christopher Hartop, Art in Industry: The Silver of Paul Storr, London 2015