Images(4)

Teapot

Date1726-1727

Marked by Simon Pantin ca. 1680-1728

OriginEngland, London

MediumSilver (sterling); wood

DimensionsOH: 5 3/8"; OL: 9 1/4"; OW: 4 7/8"
Wgt: 19 oz. 11 dwt.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1972-247

DescriptionSilver octagonal teapot on spreading molded foot, with hinged cover and turned wooden finial; octagonal sided straight spout; c-curve handle with thumb piece fitted into straight silver sockets.Label TextEven though a globular teapot of transitional form of 1705/6 by Benjamin Pyne of London is recorded, examples earlier than 1720 are not plentiful. But by the time Simon Pantin, the noted Huguenot maker, fashioned this stunning example, they had supplanted those of pear form. Pantin executed this piece with deft assurance, controlling the robust form of its body, subtly extending the paneling into the cover, and maintaining an exact sense of scale between the body and the well-modeled spout and foot. Much of the domestic silver of the reigns of Queen Anne and George I, with the conspicuous exception of the enriched productions in the Huguenot style, is severely plain. The polygonal paneling of hollowware, such as this, and of cast articles, especially candlesticks, provides an elegant and pleasurable variation.

Inscription(s)Unidentified arms engraved on side of bodyMark(s)Fully marked in reliefe on underside of base 1) Sponsor's mark for Simon Pantin "SP" with a peacock above, 2) leopard's head crowned, 3) lion passant, 4) date letter "L" for 1726/27. Sponsor's mark and lion passant also struck on underside of coverProvenanceFirestone and Parson, Boston