Objects
Glass- drinking, Goblet
Alcohol
Consumption
Gifting
[Taken from catalogue entry]
A pair of diamond engraved covered goblets, English, c. 1700-1709, the engraving signed by ‘IH’, dated 1709.
Inscription:
On both: “PREST A FAIRE’ appears beneath the coats of arms.
On a, the larger, the date 1709 is engraved around the base.
On b, the smaller, on the foot is the inscription ‘dwn by IH. In ye 78th: year of his Age’ and the script letter ‘H’ or conjoined ‘JH’ further along.
The goblets are decorated on the bowls with the coats of arms of Hart and Dixon in pretense (one armorial inside the other), the outer being that of the husband, the inner of the wife. Below the coat of arms is the inscription ‘PREST A FAIRE’, meaning ‘ready to do’.
The glasses were probably decorated to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the wedding of Percyval Hart (d. 1738) of Lullingstone House, Kent, and Sarah Dixon (d. 1720), daughter of Edward Dixon of Helden, Tonbridge, who married in 1689. The goblets remained in the family for nearly 300 years.
While these have been dated 1709, the glass itself may have been made earlier and taken for decoration in 1709. There is no reason to think that the date was added later than 1709, by the engraver.
In this case, the coat of arms of a married couple commemorate the anniversary of their marriage, as does the date, while the initials and age specifically relate to the maker, or decorator of the objects, rather than their owners, so in this case, the dating refers to both owner and maker.
On D.O.G/24a, the decoration includes three figural groups and four flying angels bearing a crown, hearts, a book, a wreath, a palm frond and a branch of foliage, perhaps an olive branch. The figures represent Faith (a woman clutching a cross and a flaming heart to her breast, kneeling before a flaming altar with an animal, with two Commandment tablets), Hope (a partly clad woman with raised arms, seated by an anchor) and Charity (a bearded man clutching two children under a tree).
There is also an inscription around the bottom of the bowl in old Russian characters, probably meaning ‘To heath and our Friendship’. The same inscription appears on a monteith, probably engraved by IH too, for a marriage in 1700.
On the foot are a number of stylised flowering plants. Between each plant is a numeral of the date ‘1709’.
On D.O.G/24b, in addition to the coat of arms, the bowl is decorated with a continuous scene of men engaged in hunting with rifles, dogs, and falcons or hawks. Some female figures may represent garden statuary. One man carries a stout pole and blows a horn to urge on a pack of hounds advancing toward and behind a female figure in robes, possibly Diana. A heron is attacked by a bird of prey. There is a further man in waistcoat and hat, holding a falcon on his arm, with two dogs. There is then a further statue, possibly representing Ceres with a sickle and sheaf of grain. There is a third man firing a musket at a bird.
Around the bottom, there is a continuous maritime scene with three boats, a fishing boat, a sloop flying the British flag and a third larger ship flying British flags.
The foot is engraved with four separate plants, and the inscription ‘dwn by IH in ye 78th: year of his Age’ and the letters H or JH.
Creator
I H
male
78
Production
Dates of Production: exact 1709
Consumer
Percival Hart
male
Consumption
Lullingston House, Kent, England
Materials
Glass- flint
Museological Details
D.O.G/24a & b
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