Pair of small pepper casters
Samuel Whitford
Category
Silver
Date
1875 - 1876
Materials
Sterling silver
Measurements
105 mm (Height); 41 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 872311
Summary
Pair of small pepper casters, sterling silver, by Samuel Whitford (jr), London, 1875/6. The casters are reduced versions of late 17th century forms. The plain cylindrical body of each is constructed of seamed sheet silver and has an off-centre applied wire, a cast gadrooned foot and an upper wire below the lip with a single notch for the bayonet fixing. The cover, also cylindrical, has a cast, gadrooned rim at the base beneath which are two cast and applied lugs for connecting to the upper wire of the body. There is foliate and floral piercing to the sides and the cover rises to a flat-topped dome with a central, cut-card work calyx of stylised leaves around an urn finial. Heraldry: Each caster is engraved on the front of the body between the applied wires with the Parker crest beneath an earl’s coronet for Albert Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley (1843-1905) and his wife, Margaret Holford, Countess of Morley (1855-1908). Hallmarks: Each caster is fully marked on the underside of the body and under the gadrooned rim of the cover with maker’s mark SW for Samuel Whitford (junior), female monarch’s head facing left, sterling lion, date letter ‘u’ for 1875 and leopard’s head crowned.
Full description
The casters are recorded in the 1886 plate list (NT, Saltram) as having been given to the 3rd Earl and Countess as a present on their marriage in 1876 by Charles Hume, Lord Dunglass (later Charles Douglas-Hume, 12th Earl of Home, 1834-1918).
Provenance
Given in 1876 as a wedding present to Albert Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley (1843-1905) and his wife, Margaret Holford, Countess of Morley (1855-1908); their son Edmund Parker, 4th Earl of Morley (1877-1951); his brother Montagu Parker, 5th Earl of Morley (1878-1962); National Trust.
Credit line
Saltram, the Morley Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Samuel Whitford, goldsmith