Pot
Pierre Platel (b. c.1664, d.1719)
Category
Silver
Date
1704 - 1705
Materials
Silver
Measurements
19.5 x 28.9 cm; 12.1 cm (Diameter)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 852070.1
Summary
Body of Britannia silver chocolate pot by Pierre Platel, London, 1704/5 (?). The elongated pear-shaped or ‘bellied’ (the 18th century name for the pear-shape) body of the chocolate pot is raised and has an applied, stepped moulding at the lip. There is no spout. A tapering, seamed stem is soldered to the side of the pot, the joint disguised by cut-card work. It terminates in an applied stepped moulding and acts as a socket for the turned fruitwood handle. Heraldry: Engraved on the body of the pot, opposite the handle, is a shield bearing the impaled arms of Hervey and Felton with the Hervey supporters and motto and a baron’s coronet for John Hervey, 1st Baron Hervey (cr. 1703, subsequently 1st Earl of Bristol). This is the only surviving example of the 1st Earl’s engraved arms as Lord Hervey, all other pieces having been re-engraved by the 2nd Earl.
Provenance
Possibly Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Bt. (d. 1709); John, 1st Lord Hervey (subsequently 1st Earl of Bristol); by descent to the 4th Marquess of Bristol; accepted by the Treasury in lieu of death duties in 1956 and handed over to the National Trust.
Credit line
Ickworth, the Bristol collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
At top of body, beneath rim (very rubbed): Maker’s mark ‘PL’ beneath a star and a crown and above a fleur de lis (Arthur Grimwade, London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, 1990, no. 2200), Britannia, lion’s head erased, date letter ‘J’ (?).
Makers and roles
Pierre Platel (b. c.1664, d.1719), goldsmith