S/O Craig Wright

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Lot 84
  • 84

George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina: A French silver-gilt Empire style circular soup tureen and cover, plateau and pair of tazze, Odiot, Paris, early 20th century

Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 USD
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Description

  • marked throughout and numbered
  • silver-gilt
  • length fo tureen over handles 12 1/2 in.
  • 31.8 cm
decorated with bands of lying griffons flanking pedestals with flowerheads between, beaded and leaf-tip borders, bud finial, the cover engraved with arms, 4 pieces.

Provenance

The arms on the tureen are those of Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902-1942) and his wife Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (1906-1968), whom he married in 1934.

Catalogue Note

Prince George was the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, thus younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI.  On November 29, 1934, he married Princess Marina of Greece, daughter of King George I of the Hellenes and Grand Duchess Helen of Russia.  It was the last marriage between a son of a British Sovereign and a member of a foreign Royal House to date; Princess Marina's classical beauty and dress sense made her a public favorite.

The couple lived at No. 3 Belgrave Square and "Coppins", in Buckinghamshire.  They had three children, including the present Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent, before the Duke's death in an airplane crash while serving with the RAF in 1942.  Princess Marina was forced to auction part of their collections in 1947, but lived at Kensington Palace until her own death in 1968.