A George III silver epergne, William Cripps, London, 1757

shaped oval, on four cast supports with detachable branches, the central section rising from a cast and pierced apron of ribbon-tied flower sprays and fruit, detachable basket, crested

the epergne and central basket fully marked, the branches with maker's mark only; condition good although apparently there has been some repair to the branches; the crests are later
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

William Cripps (1715-1766), a manufacturing and retail silversmith who rose to prominence in London’s West End during the 1740s and 1740s, was trained in the workshops of David Willaume (1658-1741), a successful goldsmith and banker. Of the latter’s other apprentices the names of the following are familiar to collectors of 18^thCentury English silver: his son, the younger David Willaume (1693-1761); Lewis Mettayer (d. 1740), Paul Tanqueray, Charles Hatfield (c. 1739/40), Aymé Vedeau (c. 1780/81), William Kidney (1702?-1756), and Thomas Pitts (whose Air Street, Piccadilly, workshops were acquired by the young Paul Storr in 1793).

Cripps gains his freedom in 1738 and entered his first mark as a largeworker on 31 August 1743 from his premises at the sign of the Crown and Golden Ball, Compton Street, Soho. His second mark was entered on 16 July 1746 upon moving to the Golden Ball, ‘on the terrace’ in St. James’s Street, where he continued the Willaumes’s business until his death on 1 January 1766:

‘Yesterday Evening died at his House in St. James’s-Street of a Fit of Apoplexy, Mr Crips [sic] a Gold and Silver-Smith of great Business. He was suddenly seized after Supper on Tuesday Night, and continued in great Agonies til he expired.’ (The Public Advertiser, London, 2 January, 1766, p. 2c)

‘On Thursday last the Surgeons opened the Head of the late Mr. Cripps, Goldsmith and Jeweller of St. James’s-Street, who died on Wednesday Evening; and we hear his sudden death was occasioned by the bursting of a Vein in his Head.’ (The Public Advertiser, London, 4 January 1766, p. 2c)

It appears from his will, proved on 6 January 1766, that Cripps had neither wife nor children and that his business was continued by George Coyte (a friend of the artist Thomas Gainsborough), retail silversmith, to be succeeded by Mark Cripps, who seems to have been a near contemporary relation of William, perhaps a cousin.

‘As might be expected from his training under Willaume,’ writes Arthur Grimwade, Cripps ‘became an accomplished craftsman and a versatile exponent of the rococo style; to judge from his surviving pieces he enjoyed a considerable clientele.’