RARE BRITANNIA SILVER SPOON BY PAUL DE LAMERIE, C. 1715

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A simply beautiful Britannia standard silver spoon, bearing the maker's mark for the mast of 18th century silversmith, and the Royal Goldsmith, Paul de Lamerie, c. 1715.Paul de Lamerie must rank as one of the stars of that finest period of English silver, the first half of the 18th century. He was the most prolific silversmith of his time in England. The quantity, range and quality of silverware that bears Paul de Lamerie's mark suggests that he was skilled not only in his craft but was also a shrewd businessman. His fame derives from his pre-eminent position as the maker of wrought plate in the Rococo style. A kettle, stand, lamp and salver by Lamerie, dated 1737, is currently on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection. Lamerie was born in 1688 in Bois-le-Duc, a town in the Netherlands w his French Huguenot parents were lodging. Along with many other French Huguenots, the family chose to follow William of Orange to England during the Glorious Revolution. In 1703 the 15 year-old boy was apprenticed to Pater Platel, London goldsmith, for a term of seven years. His apprenticeship ended in 1711, and Paul de Lamerie worked on as a journeyman with Platel while he saved money and made arrangements to receive his freedom by service. In 1713 he entered his maker's mark at the Assay Office in Goldsmith's Hall. Living and working within the close-knit Huguenot community in London, Paul de Lamerie took 13 apprentices of his own between 1715 and 1749. He attracted business from both the nobility and the wealthy middle class. Probably his most influential client was Sir Robert Walpole, called "the first British Prime Minister" (1721-42), for whom Lamerie made first the square salver, engraved with the Second Exchequer Seal of George I. A remarkable number of members of Parliament figure among Lamerie's customers. Lamerie had been fortunate in learning his trade from a master of the quality of Platel, one of the most fashionable and skillful interpreters of the French RÃ©gence style, with its well-proportioned forms, balanced ornament and architectural motifs, the designs often based on engraved illustrations by Daniel Marot. Lamerie was also fortunate in living and working in the French Protestant refugee community with its own cultural identity and w conversation was still mainly conducted in French. He was able to mix with artists in other fields besides silversmithing, and he proved to be particularly receptive to the many ideas being exchanged around him. It was this eclecticism as well as his tough attitude to business that marked his success. At the start of his career in his own workshop, the astute Paul de Lamerie had been willing to carry out orders for plate of simple design in the English Queen Anne style to please his more traditional and sober patrons, yet proved perfectly capable of producing really elaborate pieces when the opportunity arose. It was the advent of the Rococo style to which he responded most successfully. The essential characteristic of this style was movement, and the need for novelty and innovation perfectly suited Lamerie as a designer. His workshop produced a vast range of objects and obviously the same casting patterns were in use many times, yet seldom were items made that were identical. Lamerie was at his most inventive on the small scale, especially with coffee pots, from small pear-shaped versions to exceptional examples w the sculptural form and decoration united successfully. Paul de Lamerie's reputation was such that he is the only 18th-century silversmith who is remembered by name rather than just by the style of his silver. The fame of Lamerie, which uniquely survived into the 19th century, probably derived from the bravura and quantity of his Rococo silver. While comparatively immune to direct French influence in his silver, he produced French-style silver of far greater sophistication. His achievement was the development of a particular ornamental style, which used chiefly late ... read more

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