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拍品专文
The Royal arms are those as borne by Queen Anne (1702-1714).
The crest is that of Smith as borne by John Smith (1656-1723), Speaker of the House of Commons from 1705 to 1708.
SPEAKER JOHN SMITH (1655-1723)
The son of John Smith of South Tidworth or Tedworth, Hampshire, he served as a Whig politician between 1678 and 1723, under both King William III and Queen Anne, having matriculated at St John's College, Oxford, in 1672. Although he was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1674 he chose instead to enter politics, variously sitting as M.P. for Ludgershall, Wiltshire; Bere Alston, Devon; Andover, Hampshire and East Looe, Cornwall. As well as serving as an M.P. Smith, who was a renowned orator and conversationalist, filled several government posts including Chancellor of the Exchequer, first from 1699 to 1701 and again from 1708 to 1710. Between those two periods he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons on 24 October 1705, having also been made, in 1706, one of the Commissioners for arranging the union with Scotland. In 1683 he married Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Strickland, MP, for Boynton in Yorkshire, and had with her four sons and three daughters.
When John Smith was named Speaker of the House of Commons in 1706, he received 4,000 ounces of perquisite plate from the Jewel House as part of the ‘Indenture Plate’ to senior civil servants, the officers of state and the King's ambassadors. The normal allowance of plate was 1,000 ounces, however Speakers, such as Speaker Smith, were entitled to 5,000 ounces and ambassadors received the largest grant of 5,893 ounces of white plate and 1,066 ounces of gilt plate, plate meaning wrought silver or silver vessels. These grants or warrants were recorded in a series of Warrant Books.
After John Smith’s death in 1723, his son Captain William Smith (d.1773) seems to have had the Royal plate remade, some in a more fashionable style employing a number of makers including David Willaume, Anne Tanqueray, and others. All was made in the Britannia standard of the original Royal perquisite and was also engraved with the Royal arms of Queen Anne in memory of the Speaker.
Captain William Smith died childless in 1773, his estates and property passing to his nephew Thomas Assheton, later Assheton Smith (1725-1774), son of his sister Harriet Theodosia (d.1773) and her husband Sir Thomas Assheton (1678-1759) of Ashley, Cheshire. The Smith Service was extended with pieces by Augustin Le Sage and Thomas Heming in sterling standard but similarly engraved with the arms of Queen Anne and the crest of Smith. His son Thomas II (1752-1828) succeeded his father on the latter's death in 1775. Thomas II was High Sheriff of Caernarfonshire in 1783-84 and M.P. for the county 1774-80, and was M.P. for Andover 1797-1821. He fostered the development of slate quarrying on his Welsh lands, one of the first to do so. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Watkins Wynn of Voelas; their son Thomas III (1776-1858) was a well-known hunter, cricketer, and sportsman. He married Matilda (d.1859), daughter of William Weber, in 1827. They commissioned further pieces for the service from Robert Garrard (lot 48). After Thomas III's widow's death the estates and the service passed to their great-nephew George William Duff, later Duff Assheton Smith (1848-1904).
The crest is that of Smith as borne by John Smith (1656-1723), Speaker of the House of Commons from 1705 to 1708.
SPEAKER JOHN SMITH (1655-1723)
The son of John Smith of South Tidworth or Tedworth, Hampshire, he served as a Whig politician between 1678 and 1723, under both King William III and Queen Anne, having matriculated at St John's College, Oxford, in 1672. Although he was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1674 he chose instead to enter politics, variously sitting as M.P. for Ludgershall, Wiltshire; Bere Alston, Devon; Andover, Hampshire and East Looe, Cornwall. As well as serving as an M.P. Smith, who was a renowned orator and conversationalist, filled several government posts including Chancellor of the Exchequer, first from 1699 to 1701 and again from 1708 to 1710. Between those two periods he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons on 24 October 1705, having also been made, in 1706, one of the Commissioners for arranging the union with Scotland. In 1683 he married Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Strickland, MP, for Boynton in Yorkshire, and had with her four sons and three daughters.
When John Smith was named Speaker of the House of Commons in 1706, he received 4,000 ounces of perquisite plate from the Jewel House as part of the ‘Indenture Plate’ to senior civil servants, the officers of state and the King's ambassadors. The normal allowance of plate was 1,000 ounces, however Speakers, such as Speaker Smith, were entitled to 5,000 ounces and ambassadors received the largest grant of 5,893 ounces of white plate and 1,066 ounces of gilt plate, plate meaning wrought silver or silver vessels. These grants or warrants were recorded in a series of Warrant Books.
After John Smith’s death in 1723, his son Captain William Smith (d.1773) seems to have had the Royal plate remade, some in a more fashionable style employing a number of makers including David Willaume, Anne Tanqueray, and others. All was made in the Britannia standard of the original Royal perquisite and was also engraved with the Royal arms of Queen Anne in memory of the Speaker.
Captain William Smith died childless in 1773, his estates and property passing to his nephew Thomas Assheton, later Assheton Smith (1725-1774), son of his sister Harriet Theodosia (d.1773) and her husband Sir Thomas Assheton (1678-1759) of Ashley, Cheshire. The Smith Service was extended with pieces by Augustin Le Sage and Thomas Heming in sterling standard but similarly engraved with the arms of Queen Anne and the crest of Smith. His son Thomas II (1752-1828) succeeded his father on the latter's death in 1775. Thomas II was High Sheriff of Caernarfonshire in 1783-84 and M.P. for the county 1774-80, and was M.P. for Andover 1797-1821. He fostered the development of slate quarrying on his Welsh lands, one of the first to do so. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Watkins Wynn of Voelas; their son Thomas III (1776-1858) was a well-known hunter, cricketer, and sportsman. He married Matilda (d.1859), daughter of William Weber, in 1827. They commissioned further pieces for the service from Robert Garrard (lot 48). After Thomas III's widow's death the estates and the service passed to their great-nephew George William Duff, later Duff Assheton Smith (1848-1904).