John Emes

( 1808 )

Pair of George III Tea Caddies and Sugar Box

John Emes

( 1808 )

Pair of George III Tea Caddies and Sugar Box

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By John Emes
London, 1798

40 oz. 12 dwt. (1,264 gr.)

Each of oval form, bright-cut with a foliate ribbon, trellis and flower borders, the front and back engraved with a laurel wreath enclosing the initial R, the domed covers with similar bands and hinged ring finial, the sugar box with swing handle and gilded interior, in fitted satinwood rectangular chest with silver mounts similarly engraved, with similar hinged ring finial issuing from an escutcheon later engraved with a crest, the front interior border of chest engraved with an inscription, the back border later engraved with an inscription, marked on bases, covers, sugar box swing handle, chest mounts, handle and escutcheon The box 141/2 in. (37 cm.) wide

The inscription on the interior reads ' ROBERT RUSSELL, EXMOUTH'.
The initial is that of Russell, for Robert Russell (1757-1822) of Russell House, The Quay, Exmouth.

The later inscription on back border reads 'D. Wintringham Stable Great Grandson of Robert Russell', the later crest on the cover is that of Stable.

PROVENANCE LITERATURE SILVERSMITH BIOGRAPHY

Robert Russell (1757-1822) of Russell House, The Quay, Exmouth, by descent to his daughter,
Catherine Russell (1787-1860), wife of Wintringham Loscombe (1778-1838), of Andover, by descent to their daughter,
Katherine Barrett Russell (1824-1891), wife of Robert Scott Stable (1819-189), by descent to their son,
Daniel Wintringham Stable (1856-1929), barrister and director of the Prudential Assurance Association, presumably by descent to his son,
Sir Wintringham Norton Stable, M.C., P.C. (1888-1977), High Court judge.
With Payne and Son of Oxford, by May 1978.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 30 October 1991, lot 194.

A. Stevens, K. Richenburg and G. Walkling eds., The Story of British Tea Chests and Caddies, Woodbridge, 2022, pp. 313-314, fig. 17.31.

Presumably, son of William Emes of Bowbridge Field near Derby surveyor, apprenticed to William Woolett of Green Street, Leicester Fields Citizen and Goldsmith, engraver on payment of £105, (one of the largest premiums recorded in the apprentice registers), 7th October 1778. Free, 5th July 1786. First mark entered as a plateworker, in partnership with Henry Chawner on 27th August 1796. Address: Amen Corner. He presumably is dead in 1808, when Rebbeccah and William Emes entered their mark at the same address. His work, mostly tea and coffee services with some tankards, shows a taste for elegant design and fine finish.