Lot 746
  • 746

A GEORGE III SILVER PRESENTATION TWO-HANDLED TRAY, PAUL STORR OF STORR & CO. FOR RUNDELL, BRIDGE & RUNDELL, LONDON, 1818 |

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • 81cm., 31 7/8 in. over handles
shaped oval, on four shell, scroll and grapevine bracket feet, the border cast with shells and foliate scrolls, and with two foliate scroll handles, the field finely engraved with a central scene of Cupid unveiling a coat-of-arms before a reclining female figure and a phoenix rising from  flames emblematic of the trade and agriculture of the Isle of Mauritius enclosed by extensive views of the island's Grand Port and Port Louis, further engraved with a presentation inscription, the underside stamped:596

Provenance

Sir Robert Townsend-Farquhar. 1st Bt. (1776-1830) and then by descent to
Horace Farquhar, 1st and last Earl Farquhar (1844-1923), most of whose possessions he bequeathed to members of the British royal family (including the bulk of his silver to Princess Arthur of Connaught (1891-1959)); sold with the remaining contents of the Earl's London house, 7 Grosvenor Square by Curtis & Henson, May 1924, 'A silver tea tray, engraved with a naval subject by Paul Storr, 1818. . . £220' (Aberdeen Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Friday, 16 May 1924, p. 8d).
From the Collection at Parham Park, West Sussex (largely acquired by the Hon. Clive Pearson (1887-1965) and his wife following their purchase of Parham in 1922), sold at Christie's, London, 15 June 2004, lot 31, together with a companion two-handled tray (lot 32), Paul Storr, London, 1818.
Property from the Estate of Benjamin F. Edwards III, sold at Christie's, New York, 19 October 2012, lot 135.
Private Collection 

Catalogue Note

The inscription reads: ‘À SON EXCELLENCE / Robert Townshend [sic] Farquhar. / L’ILE MAURICE RECONNOISSANTE, /1818.’ ('The Isle of Mauritius expresses gratitude to His Excellency Robert Townshend [sic] Farquhar, 1818.') The arms are those of Farquhar impaling de Lautour for Robert Farquhar (later Richard Townsend Farquhar who formerly assumed by sign-manual dated 19 July 1824 the additional surname of Townsend), second son of Sir Walter Farquhar, 1st. Bt. (1738-1819), who was physician to George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, later George IV. He was born on 14 October 1776 and married on 10 January 1809 Maria Frances Geslip (later Mrs. Thomas Hamilton, d. 1875), fourth daughter and co-heiress of Joseph Francis Louis de Lautour (1730-1808) of Madras and Hexton House, Hertfordshire.

Following his education at Westminster School, Robert Townsend Farquhar travelled to India where in 1793 he obtained a position in the East India Company at Madras. He subsequently served as Lieutenant Governor of Panang and in 1810 he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Mauritius. A dedicated opponent of the slave trade, Farquhar promoted the production of sugar, including the building of mills and roads and the encouragement of international trade. He was created a baronet in 1821, the announcement of which was made in The London Gazette of 28 July that year (p. 1555).

Although Farquhar resigned as Governor of Mauritius in 1823, he took a leave of absence between 1817 and 1820, which is when he probably received this tray. Returning to England permanently in 1823 he was elected M.P. for Newton, Lancashire, and for Hythe, Kent from 1826 until his death at his London house in Richmond Terrace, Whitehall on 16 March 1830.