Beer jug
Benjamin Smith (1764-1823)
Category
Silver
Date
1815 - 1816
Materials
Silver, sterling
Measurements
22.9 x 21.3 cm; 1090 g (Weight); 16.3 cm (Diameter); 12.2 cm (Diameter)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 516533
Summary
A beer jug, silver (sterling), mark of Benjamin Smith, London, 1815/6. Standing on a circular flared foot decorated with a border of narrow gadroons, the raised bombé body has an applied festoon of hops and their leaves. The front is engraved with the crest. The neck flares above an embossed gadrooned border, and has a pronounced lip. The handle is formed of seven drawn wires, which loop up and back to the side of the jug where they fan out and are applied with seven cast ears of barley. The hinged cover is raised with a low step round the flat centre. The cast finial is formed as a daisy-like flower, which is attached by a nut. Heraldry: The crest of a wyvern erased is unidentified. Scratch weight: None
Full description
Benjamin Smith senior (1764-1823) ‘was of a difficult and probably irascible nature and this is borne out by the variations in his entry of marks with and without partners’. [1] For a short time Smith senior was in partnership with Mathew Boulton in Birmingham, where the younger Benjamin was born. But by 1802 the family were in London, where for five years Smith senior with his partner Digby Scott manufactured plate for Rundell’s. His next brief partnership was with his brother, James, during which time Benjamin Smith junior is recorded as being apprenticed to his father. In 1816 father and son register their first mark together; two years later both he and his father register their marks alone. Smith’s character may have been difficult, but the silver produced in his workshops was of outstanding quality, rivalling that of Paul Storr, and often duplicating designs. He continued to produce silver for Rundell’s after Storr had taken charge of their workshops in 1807. It is possible that this handsome beer jug was made for them, however, it is not stamped with their name, and Benjamin Smith supplied other retailers, particularly after 1814. At this late date in his career he may also have sold his silver directly to the public, as did his son. [2] [1] Arthur Grimwade: London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, London, 1990, p 661 [2] An advertisement in the Morning Herald, London, Tuesday, 6 July 1830 – ‘HARROW SCHOOL. The SUBSCRIBERS to Dr BUTLER’S PLATE are informed that the CANDELABRUM is completed, and may be seen during the present week, at the Manufactory, Mr. Smith’s, 12, Duke-street, Lincoln’s Inn-fields.’ – invites the public to view a recent commission indicating that Benjamin Smith junior was selling directly to the public as well as to retail businesses. Information supplied by John Culme
Provenance
(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)
Marks and inscriptions
On the outside of the foot ring: Hallmarks: ‘BS’ (Benjamin Smith*), lion passant (sterling), leopard’s head (London), ‘U’ (1815/6), and monarch’s head (duty mark) * Arthur Grimwade: London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, London, 1990, p 28, no 230 On the underside of the cover: Hallmarks: lion passant and ‘U’ On the underside of the body: Old NT Inventory Number: ‘AA/S/142’ in white paint On the underside of the body : Current NT Inventory Number ‘NT516533’ in white Rotring Isograph
Makers and roles
Benjamin Smith (1764-1823), goldsmith