CALKE ABBEY: A GEORGE II SILVER SOUP TUREEN AND COVER, George Wickes, London, 1742

oval on four lion-headed paw feet, engraved on both sides with contemporary arms in drapery cartouches and on both sides of cover with crest in drapery cartouches, artichoke finial, scroll handles rising from bold shells.

Sir Henry Harpur, 5th Bart., of Calke Abbey, co. Derby
Christie's New York, "Property of a New York Collector," October 26, 1982, lot 604

a few minor dings, slight overall wear, otherwise good condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The arms are those of Harpur impaling Manners for Sir Henry Harpur, 5th Bart. (1709-1748), of Calke Abbey, co. Derby, and his wife Caroline, daughter of John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland.

The couple were married in 1734, by special license.  She had been maid of honour at the wedding of Princess Anne to the Prince of Orange in this same year, and it is thought that the great embroidered state bed at Calke was given to her attendant at this time.  After his father's death in 1741 - the year before this tureen was made - Sir Henry represented Worcester and Tamworth in Parliament, but was better known as an owner and breeder of racehorses than as a politician; a local historian described the Harpurs as "reckoned the best landed Family of any Commoners in this or any of the neighbouring Counties" (Calke Abbey, National Trust guide, 2000, p. 37).  Sir Henry died in 1748, aged just 39.  His widow married Sir Robert Burdett, 4th Bart., in 1753 and died in 1769.

The pair to this tureen, with a scratch weight of 114=11, is still preserved at Calke.  George Wickes' "Gentleman's Ledgers" preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum list Sir Henry as acquiring a 131-ounce tureen in June of 1742, but the pair are almost certainly the ones billed the following year:

27 May 1743
To 2 Fluted tarreens & 1 Ladle        
        242[oz]  15[dwt] @ 9/-   [£]109  4[s]  6[d]
To Graving 4 Coats & 4 Crests & Mantlings
                                                 [£]3  10[s]

These same arms appeared on a pair of second-course dishes by Wickes, 1741, sold Sotheby's London, May 28, 2009, lot 403.