Description

A fine pair of antique sterling silver second course plates of good weight having classic shaped gadroon borders. Hand engraved to one side of the rim with the coat of arms for the Egerton family, to the other side with the crest of 3 arrows. Plates of this date will have come from a large and important table service.

Total weight 1550 grams, 49.8 troy ounces.

Diameter 28.5cm.

London 1750.

Maker probably John Harvey I.

Sterling silver.

Arms for the Egerton family: Argent, a lion rampant gules between three pheons sable. Blazon of 3 arrows. The motto “Virtuti Non Armis Fido” translates as “I trust to virtue, not to arms”. This historic and notable family of Egerton (Egerson) has its ancient Anglo-Saxon origins in Egerton Green, Cheshire.

Marks. Stamped underneath each plate correctly with the lion passant, leopard and date letter hallmarks. The maker’s mark is partially visible on one of the plates and is probably that of John Harvey I, a prominent plate maker of that period.
The plates are numbered 23 and 24 and have the scratchweight underneath. Interestingly these have been altered (see image) indicating that the service was either incorrectly marked initially or even reconstituted at a later date in the 18^th century.

Literature. Antique Silver Dinner Plates and Meat Dishes. Dinner plates were usually made in dozens and larger quantities and often came as part of a suite of dishes including soup plates, oval serving plates and mazerines. These dishes very often came from grand houses and have finely executed coats of arms.