Alms dish
Frederick Kandler (d.1778)
Category
Silver
Date
1758 - 1759
Materials
Silver-gilt
Measurements
2.5 cm (Height); 30.5 cm (Diameter)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 852905
Summary
Dessert dish, subsequently alms dish, sterling silver, gilded, marked by Frederick Kandler, London, 1758/9. The circular dish is raised and has a shallow well with ribbed sides and a broad rim to which is applied a moulded and gadrooned cast border.Heraldry: The rim of the dish was engraved in 1758 with the quartered arms of the Hanoverian monarchs (pre-1801) within the Garter and beneath an imperial crown. To this was added c.1810 the royal supporters and motto and an ermine mantling.
Full description
This is the only survivor of the twelve round, oval and octagonal silver-gilt dishes (four of each) which came from the Jewel Office in 1758 as part of George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol’s perquisite plate on being appointed ambassador to Spain. What happened to the others is not known but they are most likely to have been turned in for melting during the tenure of either the 3rd or 4th Earl of Bristol. The former is most likely as he probably gave this dish to Ickworth church following its restoration during his brief tenure of the estate [1] and the disposal may have been associated with his commissioning of a silver-framed dressing glass (NT 853443) for his mistress, Mary Nesbit. [2] The embellishment to the royal arms is by a different and far superior hand to that employed on the chalice (NT 852904) and paten (NT 852906) given by the 5th Earl (future 1st Marquess) in 1810, suggesting that they were not all given at the same time. The gift of secular items for sacred use was common, particularly when they were no longer fashionable, and a pair of similar dishes, made in Newcastle in 1772, was given for use as alms dishes by the 7th Viscount Bulkeley to the churches of Llanfaes and Penmon on Anglesey in 1812. James Rothwell, Decorative Arts Curator June 2021 [Adapted from James Rothwell, Silver for Entertaining: The Ickworth Collection, London 2017, cat. 74, p. 162] Notes: [1] Kate Yates, Ickworth Church: A History, 2013, p. 8. [2] James Rothwell and Louisa Brouwer, ‘For a ‘dear and valuable best friend’: a looking glass by Frederick Kandler at Ickworth House, Suffolk’, The Burlington Magazine, no. 1410, vol. 162 (September 2020), pp. 766-775. [3] E. Alfred Jones, The Church Plate of the Diocese of Bangor, London 1906, pp. xxxviii, 26 and 47.
Provenance
Jewel Office; allocated to George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol (1721-75) as Ambassador to Madrid 1758; discharged to Lord Bristol 9 April 1759; by descent to the 3rd Earl; probably given by him c.1778 to the church of St Mary, Ickworth, as part of the Communion plate; transferred 1984 to St Leonard’s, Horringer; on loan to the National Trust since 1998.
Credit line
St Leonard's, Horringer, on loan to the National Trust at Ickworth
Marks and inscriptions
Underside of rim: Hallmarks: date letter ‘C’, lion passant, leopard’s head and maker’s mark ‘FK’ in italics beneath a fleur-de-lis (Arthur Grimwade, London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, London 1990, no. 692). Underside: Scratchweight and engraved inscription: ‘Nº٨ 2 [/] 32٨3’ and ‘Ickworth Church’, both on the underside Underside: Yellow adhesive label inscribed in biro 'M30'.
Makers and roles
Frederick Kandler (d.1778), goldsmith