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KC1973-410
Pair of soup tureens
KC1973-410

Pair of soup tureens

Date1745-1770
Maker Thomas Chamberlain
OriginEngland, London
MediumPewter
DimensionsOH: 9 1/2"; OL: 15 1/4"; OW: 8 11/16"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1956-344,1
DescriptionPewter tureen with cover, one of a pair, having deep bowl with ogee outline profile, making the lower part of main body quite bulbous; scrolled and molded handle attached to either end of rim; four stout, short legs with claw-and-ball feet. Oval domed lid has scrolled and molded handle in the center of the top. Engraved on one side are the arms of the first Baron Edgcumbe: Gu. on a bend ermines cotised or, three boars' heads couped ar. Supporters: Two greyhounds ar. guttee-de-poix, gorged with a collar dovetailed gu. Motto: Au plaisir fort de Dieu.
Label TextThis handsome pair of soup tureens is from a much larger service that Thomas Chamberlain produced for Baron Edgcumbe of Mt. Edgcumbe, Devonshire. They were sold at auction in 1956 along with ninety-four dinner plates, twenty-four soup plates, ten circular dishes, and eighteen oval dishes, all marked by Thomas Chamberlain and engraved with the baron's armorials. Colonial Williamsburg acquired twelve of the dinner plates and twelve of the soup plates (1956-345, 1-12, and 1956-346, 1-12).
InscribedArms with supporters, motto, and baron's coronet of Baron Edgcumbe of Mt. Edgcumbe, Devonshire, engraved on one side of each body and cover. The arms are those of either (1) Richard Edgcumbe (d. 1758), lst Baron Edgcumbe, (2) his son Richard Edgcumbe (d. unmarried 1761), 2nd Baron Edgcumbe, or (3) his brother George Edgcumbe (d. 1795), 3rd Baron Edgcumbe, created Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort in 1781 and 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in 1789.


MarkingsTouch mark the Prince of Wales feathers with royal crown above framed by "THOMAS" and "CHAMBERLAIN" within separate curved reserves above and below both on undersides of covers and bodies (Cotterell 873).
ProvenanceSold by the trustees of the 7th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and purchased by Colonial Williamsburg at Sotheby & Co., London, 1956.