The Huguenot Legacy
English Silver 1680-1760
from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection
Christopher Hartop



Summary

Contents

Reviews

Author

Enquiries

How to order

Huguenot silver article

Published by
Thomas Heneage 
1996
Distributed by John Adamson

432 pp.
220 colour pictures
180 black and white
illustrations
11¾ × 8½ in. (296 × 216 mm)

ISBN
978-0-946708-28-4
£57.00


Obtainable from any good bookseller or from:

John Adamson:
90 Hertford Street, Cambridge CB4 3AQ, UK
e-mail: Book orders


Summary

In 1685 Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had given religious freedom to the French protestants, or Huguenots. What had been a steady stream of refugees became a flood, creating a tremendous diaspora of talent across northern Europe. Many of the Huguenots were skilled artists, like silversmiths, and their influence on English silver of the period has long been recognized. In this book Christopher Hartop re-assesses the Huguenot contribution to silver made in England and suggests that the Huguenots were just one—albeit the most significant—of several groups of foreign workers who were responsible for the great flowering of style and technique in English silver between 1680 and 1760.

The book also examines the radical changes in the way in which people sat down to eat which took place during the early Georgian period, and how silversmiths responded to the demand for innovative types of silverware this created. The new fashion for coffee and tea also saw the introduction of a wealth of new forms of domestic silver. Separate sections deal with silver for eating, drinking, coffee and tea, lighting and salvers. Silver made for display is also examined. Introductory chapters place the silver of the period in the social and historical context of the times.

Winner of the 1997 National Huguenot Society Prize for the best original work of scholarship covering any aspect of the Huguenot movement

See Christopher Hartop’s article on Huguenot Silver published in Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland

top


Contents

Foreword by Ellenor Alcorn

Acknowledgements

Introduction

  • Art or Industry?
  • The English scene 1680-1760
  • Patrons and consumers
  • Dining and drinking
  • Craftsmen and suppliers
  • Styles and designs
A note about the arrangement of the catalogue References frequently cited for makers’ marks

Catalogue

  • Display and official plate
      The Wentworth plate
      The Chesterfield plate
      Other display and official plate
  • Silver for the dining table
  • Silver for drinking
  • Silver for coffee, tea and chocolate
  • Salvers and waiters
  • Silver for lighting
  • Silver for the bedroom and writing table
Glossary
Further reading
Index

top


Reviews

‘The production of this valuable addition to the library of the silver addict is of exceptional quality. Silver is notoriously difficult to reproduce convincingly and the lifelikeness of the illustrations which truly ‘leap from the page’, is a tribute to the photographers and production team alike. The well-illustrated personal history of many of the original owners of the pieces contributes much to their background and paints the wealth and splendour of one of the greatest periods in the production of English silver in which the immigrants contributed so much. A volume to be treasured indeed.’

Arthur Grimwade Huguenot Society

‘As an exhibition catalogue, The Huguenot Legacy is enormously detailed in augmenting our understanding of the effect of the Huguenot ’conquest’ (particularly in the field of silver) ... it [also] proclaims the remarkable collection put together by Alan and Simone Hartman in the relatively short space of fifteen years. Theirs is the only such assembled collection, other than the earlier Wilding Bequest ... that seeks specifically  to define the parameters of Huguenot silver in England.’

Jolyon Warwick James Silver Magazine

‘Hartop shows how Londoners’ fascination with all things Continental paved the way for the innovations of the English rococo. He brings to life the interdependent web of modelers, chasers, casters, engravers, finishers, and retailers who contributed to the finished product. Of great significance is Hartop’s explanation that the maker’s mark that appears on important commissions is no indication of authorship because of the intricate web of specialists at work in London.’

Maine Antique Digest

‘Unlike many silver exhibitions, this one is less concerned with who made the objects and how valuable they are. Instead, it documents the development of the English obsession with French taste and how the influence of artisans trained for the French court made it possible for British nobility to realize their ambitions.’

Paula Deitz The New York Times

top


Author

Christopher Hartop’s books include East Anglian Silver (2004), Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell & Bridge (2005), A Noble Feast (2008), The Classical Ideal (2010), A Noble Pursuit (2010) and Norfolk Summer: Making The Go-Between (2011).

christopherhartop.com

top


Enquiries

Contact the distributor for further information:

e-mail: book enquiries,

letter: John Adamson, 90 Hertford Street, Cambridge
CB4 3AQ, England

top


How to order the book offline

Please print off the order form and send it by mail to John Adamson, 90 Hertford Street, Cambridge CB4 3AQ, England.

top