Description
The two-handled cup stands on a spreading foot chased
around the border with a band of acanthus
foliage and plain above. The lower part of the body is chased with
an acanthus calyx on punched
matted ground; an applied rib is above. Chased around the lip is
a band of scrolling foliage on similar ground between moulded bands.
The main part of the body is embossed
on one side with a cartouche
composed of oak leaves and a trophy of arms, enclosing an engraved
inscription, and on the other side with a coat of arms. The inscription
reads:
To
SIR ROBERT WIGRAM BART. M. P.
LIEUT. COL. COMMANDANT OF THE
SIXTH REGIMENT OF LOYAL LONDON VOLUNTEERS
This Cup
IS UNANIMOUSLY & MOST CORDIALLY PRESENTED
BY THE COMMISSIONED NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS & PRIVATES
IN TESTIMONY OF THEIR PERFECT
ATTACHMENT & ESTEEM
1806.
The foliate scroll handles are moulded
with goat masks at the lower junction and surmounted by bacchant
masks. The cover is of waisted form, chased around the border with
a band of scrolls and in the center with vines and grapes on matted
ground; the finial is formed as a bud above a band of gadroons.
Construction
The body and foot are raised,
with cast handles and embossed decoration. The cover is raised,
with a seamed flange and a separately made central section soldered
to the main part. The finial is cast and attached by a screw.
Heraldry
The arms are those of Wigram, for Sir Robert Wigram, Baronet (1744-1830).
According to Christie's sale catalogue the Wigram family traces
its origins to Wexford where an area of the City is to this day
called Wigram. Robert, the son of John Wigram, master of the Privateer
Boyne, was born on 30 January 1744, moving to London at the age
of eighteen to obtain a diploma in "Surgeonery." In 1764,
he sailed for India as surgeon aboard the East Indiaman 'Admiral
Watson' but poor sight led him to abandon his chosen profession
eight years later. In 1772 he married Catherine Broadhurst, by whom
he was to have six children, and established himself as, in his
own words, "a general Merchant over the whole world, a Brewer,
Shipbuilder, India Husband, and a great promoter of Huddart's patent
candles." Following the death of his wife in 1786, Robert Wigram
married Eleanor Watts and sired a further eighteen children, most
of whom survived to adult life.
Robert Wigram represented Fowey in Parliament
from 1802 until 1806 when he was elected member for his native Wexford,
an office which he held until about 1817. He played a considerable
part in raising the 6th Regiment of the Loyal London Volunteers,
of which he became Lieutenant Colonel Commandant in September 1803.
It was on his retirement from this post that the gold cup was presented
to him as a mark of esteem and appreciation.
Wigram was a staunch supporter of William
Pitt, and was created a Baronet on 5th October 1805. The following
year [he] became High Sheriff for the County of Essex. He died at
Walthamstow House, Essex on November 6, 1830 at the age of eighty-six.
Commentary
Significantly more gold plate survives from the late seventeenth
and early eighteenth centuries than from the early nineteenth, in
contrast to the vastly greater rate of survival of silver from the
latter period. This must reflect a marked decline in the production
of gold plate, probably an indication of the extent to which the
eighteenth-century fashion for gold snuffboxes diverted patrons
away from more traditional forms of gold plate.
Other than snuffboxes and freedom boxes,
only four other gold cups and covers by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell,
the suppliers of this cup, are known, including one of 1820 at Windsor
and another of almost identical design presented by George IV to
James, earl of Ormond and Ossory, in 1821 and now in the Victoria
and Albert Museum, London. Both of these vessels were made in connection
with the coronation of George IV, as were the Lord Mayor's Cup of
1820 and a cup hallmarked for 1822 made for the duke of Norfolk
in his capacity as hereditary earl marshal of England.
No drawing for this cup appears to have
survived, although certain features, such as the Vitruvian scrolls
around the border of the cover and the design of the handles suggest
that this may have been an early example of the sculptor John Flaxman’s
cooperation with the goldsmiths Scott and Smith.
Glossaries
chase - to decorate a
metal surface using a hammer and sharp tool
acanthus - a representation of the leaves of the
acanthus plant
calyx - a cuplike motif resembling the outer leaves
or petals of a plant or flower
emboss - mold or carve in relief, decorate with
a raised design
cartouche - an ornamental panel in the shape of
curled paper or parchment scrolls
bacchant - after Bacchus, the Greek god of wine
gadroons - a series of convex curves often applied
as a border decoration
raised - formed from a single sheet of metal by
repeated hammering over an anvil
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