Property from an Important Manx Collection
ARCHIBALD KNOX | "CYMRIC" BOWL, MODEL NO. 247
Auction Closed
October 7, 07:54 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from an Important Manx Collection
ARCHIBALD KNOX
"CYMRIC" BOWL, MODEL NO. 247
1904
produced by Liberty & Co., London
silver, enamel
impressed CYMRIC/L&Co with Birmingham Assay Office marks
3⅞ in. (9.9 cm) high
6¾ in. (17.2 cm) diameter
Liberty Silver Sketch Book, Westminster City Archives, London, n.d., p. 30, no. 2047 (for the model with variant decoration)
Stephen A. Martin, Archibald Knox, London, 1995, p. 95 (for the model without enamel)
Stephen A. Martin, Archibald Knox, London, 2001, p. 207 (for the model without enamel)
This elegant design succeeds by a restrained presentation of form. The simplicity of its looped feet and entrelac lozenge are placed within a small field of colored enamel—Knox at his most modern. The work also suggests the "spirit of Man," calling to mind the cauldron of Manannán mac Lir, the sea god who gives the island its name. His cauldron, like the Holy Grail, bestows everlasting life to all those in contact with it. The combination of formal and mytho-poetic elements ennobles this deceptively restrained form.
DR. STEPHEN A. MARTIN