A GEORGE III SILVER NINE-BASKET EPERGNE, THOMAS PITTS, LONDON, 1778 |

complete with one large lobed oval basket with beaded lip (engraved on one side with a crest), four smaller oval baskets and four circular baskets, similar, all detachable, also eight detachable foliate branches, the frame on four supports with a central urn and applied festoons and urns in ovals, the borders of chased anthemion scrolls or pierced matted circles connected by flowerheads

S.J. Shrubsole, New York, 29 March 2000

The large basket and main body clearly and fully marked. The baskets and branches all clearly part marked. The cartouches possible erased and the crests later. Fine condition. Very good overall with no obvious issues.
"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."

For a very similar epergne, Thomas Pitts, London, 1777, see Robert Rowe, Adam Silver, London, 1965, p. 37B; and another, London, 1779, the maker's mark of Thomas Pitts misidentified as that of Thomas Powell, was sold at Sotheby's, London, 23 April 1970, lot 205. Thomas Pitts, who was probably born in the early 1720s was apprenticed to Charles Hatfield on 6 December 1737 before being turned over to David Willaume the younger in February 1742 to complete his training. Within the next two decades he was well established, with premises and a factory in Air Street, Piccadilly from where he advertised as a ‘WORKING SILVER-SMITH and CHASER . . . Makes & Sells all Sorts of large & small Plate, in the newest Taste . . .’ (trade card, circa 1760, Heal Collection, British Museum) He specialised, although not exclusively so, in the manufacture of epergnes, supplying many to the retail goldsmiths, Parker & Wakelin (successors to George Wickes, et al.) of Panton Street, Haymarket. For comment, see Helen Clifford, Silver in London, The Parker and Wakelin Partnership 1760-1776, Yale University Press, 2004, pp. 93-95. Pitts died on 12 December 1795 and was survived by his wife, Mary, three sons, Thomas, William and Joseph and four granddaughters, Harriett, Sarah Elizabeth, Margaret and Maria, by his son, Thomas and his late wife, Harriett. His will, signed on 6 August 1792, was proved In the Consistory Court of London on 16 December 1795 by his executors, his widow and son, Joseph. (London Metropolitan Archives, CL/C/433, no. 209)