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Director’s Choice – The Earl of Fife’s Tea & Coffee Service
In the build up to this year’s 38th TEFAF Maastricht which runs from the 14th-19th Marchwe are delighted to present this magnificent tea and coffee service created for the James, 4th Earl of Fife (1776-1857) K.T, G C. H Knight of the order of St Ferdinand of Spain, and of the Sword of Sweden, and Mary Caroline, second daughter of John Manners, and Louisa, Countess of Dysart, whom he married in 1799. With this year being the bicentenary year of John Flaxman RA (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826), it is wonderful to celebrate this glorious design of his whilst working for the great royal retail firm Rundell, Bridge & Rundell under the guidance of the greatest and most famous of the Regency goldsmiths, Paul Storr. It is with this in mind that it is an easy Director’s Choice this week. With patriotic English oakleaves and acorns adorning its handles and finials the service maintains the grand-tour influence of Roman lamps and at the same time extolling Britain’s naval might with its sweeping grotesque dolphins and shell spigot. This service illustrates perfectly the quality of Rundell’s design studio.
