An early George III sterling silver sauceboat, London 1766 by David Whyte & William Holmes

of belied form, with fluting to resemble shells, each raised upon cast shaped oval pedestal feet with a gadrooned edge. The acanthus capped double C scroll handles with a bifurcated upper junction adjoining a leafy scroll section, leading to a gadrooned rim. The underside of the lip engraved with contemporaneous impaled coat of arms within an asymmetrical C scroll cartouche with foliage and rocaille. Fully marked underneath the lip.

Length – 18.1 cm / 7.05 inches

Weight – 281 grams / 9.03 ozt

The arms are for Purves with a canton of Nova Scotia (EST: 25^th July 1665) impaling Le Blanc (granted 1753).

For Sir Alexander Purves (1738-1813) 5th Baronet of Purves Hall, who married Catherine Le Blanc (c. 1745 - d.1772), on the 23^rd Aug 1766.

Alexander was the only son of Sir William Purves, 4^th Baronet (1701-1762) and his wide Lady Anne Hume-Campbell (1698-1784), second daughter of Alexander Hume-Campbell, 2^nd Earl of Marchmont (1675-1745). Catherine was most likely the daughter of Thomas Le Blanc (1704-65) of Charterhouse Square, Clerkenwell and his wife Ann Tully (1714-?). The Le Blac family were Huguenot emigres from Rouen in France, while Thomas was a wealthy merchant and a director of the South Sea Company. After Catherine’s death Sir Alexander went on to marry three more times.

A pair of sauceboats of 1767 of this form was sold these rooms, 19 Oct 2022, lot 675 (£1875, incl. prem)