A REGENCY SILVER-GILT "EGYPTIAN REVIVAL" FOUR PIECE TEA AND COFFEE SET, the design attributed to Jean-Jacques Boileau, Benjamin and James Smith, London, 1810

comprising: a teapot, creamer, open sugar bowl and coffee jug on lampstand, with geometric borders, classical heads on the handles, the tripod stand formed by three winged Egyptian style figures, all pieces later engraved with the arms of Earl Howe.

Christie's New York, October 18, 1994, lot 353

as noted re: date of arms, probably regilt, otherwise good
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 design of the coffee jug and tripod in this set derives from a drawing attributed to Jean-Jacques Boileau, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Boileau was a French mural painter and designer brought by Henry Holland to England in the late 1780s to work on the decoration of Carlton House.  Michael Snodin has attributed to the artist a series of drawings in the "Rundell's Album" of silver designs (see "J.J. Boileau: A Forgotten Designer of SIlver" The Connoissuer 198 (June 1978): 124-33).  The earliest designs are dated 1800 and 1802, and by 1804 Rundell, Bridge and Rundell were retailing plate, made by Digby Scott and Benjamin Smith, which reflected Boileau's designs.

Boileau obviously knew Moitte's silver designs for Henry Auguste (see lot 835), and he complimented that late French neoclassicism with additional Egyptian motifs, particularly popular after the publications of Thomas Hope and Vivant Denon.  The earliest verions of this tea set, such as the three-piece set of 1804-05 formerly in the Al-Tajir collection, show a creamer and sugar bowl of taller profile (see The Glory of the Goldsmith, no. 117).  Boileau also used a winged sphinx tripod support for a tea urn design, one example of which was acquired by Thomas Hope (see Thomas Hope: Regency Designer, Bard Graduate Center, New York, 2008, no. 102).