Description
Book SynopsisSilver for Entertaining is a comprehensive, well-illustrated guide to one of the most important collections of 18th-century silver in Europe. The guide extends to nearly a thousand individual pieces of the highest quality, style and exuberance of form. These pieces have survived virtually intact, along with extensive and previously untapped archival evidence of their commissioning and use. The book also provides new information on the diplomatic, political and court appointments of its principal patron, George William Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol (1721-75). The finest London makers of the time are represented, including Paul de Lamerie, Paul Crespin and, in particular, Frederick Kandler. It also contains a significant quantity of continental pieces, commissioned contemporaneously whilst Lord Bristol was in Turin. The Earl's silver, of the latest French fashions and of opulent extent, was a critical tool in his armoury. It was in part by maintaining a sufficient state of 'magnificence' there, and in Madrid, that he could hold the diplomatic ground for Britain during the Seven Years War. The book analyses the silver from stylistic and technical perspectives and uses them to illuminate the patronage, fashion and social history of the period, casting new light on the Herveys, one of England's most famous and eccentric aristocratic families.
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Chapter One – Silver patronage during the restoration in the early 18th century: John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol Chapter Two – Silver for the international stage: the 2nd Earl of Bristol Chapter Three – Perquisite plate and the later career of the 2nd Earl of Bristol Chapter Four – Survival against the odds: the Ickworth silver after 1775
CATALOGUE Part 1 Silver of the 1st Earl of Bristol Part 2 Silver of Lord and Lady Hervey Part 3 Silver of the 2nd Earl of Bristol Part 4 Silver of the 4th Earl of Bristol Part 5 Silver of John Augustus, Lord Hervey Part 6 Silver of the 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bristol Part 7 Silver of the 2nd Marquess of Bristol Part 8 Silver of the 3rd Marquess of Bristol Part 9 Silver of the 4th Marquess of Bristol
APPENDICES 1: References to silver and gold in the 1st Earl of Bristol’s accounts 2: Suppliers or repairers of silver and gold in the 1st Earl of Bristol's accounts 3: References relating to the Ickworth silver in Goslings and Hoare's bank ledgers up to 1775 4: Documents relating to the 2nd Earl of Bristol's diplomatic plate 5: List of plate belonging to the 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bristol Hervey family tree
Bibliography Photography credits and copyright Index
