Cremorne service - A pair of George III sterling silver second course dishes, London 1771 by John Parker & Edward Wakelin

of cushion form, rectangular with incurved sides and corners with a moulded gadrooned rim with splayed double shells. The sides engraved with a quartered coat of arms within a foliate cartouche with motto below Toujours Propice. Each fully marked to the reverse. One engraved underneath No 4 26:15, also stamped with numeral 3 to rim and shell, the other engraved with No 3 25:5, also stamped with numeral 4 to rim and shell. (2)

Length – 26.8 cm / 10.25 inches

Weight – 1552 grams / 49.9 ozt

The arms are for Dawson of Dartrey, co. Monaghan, Ireland

For Thomas Dawson, 1st Baron Dartney in the Peerage of Ireland and later 1st Viscount Cremorne (1725-1813), the son of Richard Dawson (c.1693-1766) of Dawson Grove, by his wife Elizabeth (d.1730), daughter of John Vesey (1638-1716), Archbishop of Tuam.

An extensive landowner he represented County Monaghan in the Irish House of Commons from 1749 to 1768, and on 28th May 1770 was raised to the Irish House of Lords as Baron Dartrey of Dawson's Grove, raised to Viscount Cremorne on 19th June 1785. Cremorne was married on 15th August 1754 to Anne (1733-1769), youngest daughter of Thomas Fermor, 1st Earl of Pomfret (1693-1758) and his wife Henrietta Louisa (d.1761), daughter of John Jeffreys, 2nd Baron Jeffreys (1673-1702). He married secondly, on 8th May 1770, Philadelphia Hannah (1740-1826), daughter of Thomas Freame of Philadelphia. And the maternal granddaughter of William Penn (1644-1718), the founder of Philadelphia.

The Cremorne service was extended by Thomas Dawson throughout his lifetime, the earliest pieces dating from the time of his marriage to his first wife. It is most famous for the extraordinary candelabra and set of candlesticks in the Roman fashion that Dawson commissioned from the Wakelin firms.

Other examples from the Cremorne Service: -

A pair of circular second course dishes, 1753 by Peter Archambo and Peter Meure, sold Christie’s London, 13 July 1994, lot 102 (£4,600 incl. premium)

A set of four candlesticks, 1755 by Edward Wakelin, sold Christie’s 29 Nov 2016, Lot 162 (£377,000 incl. premium)

A pair of sauceboats, 1767 likely by John Parker & Edward Wakelin, sold Christie’s London, 10 Nov 1993, Lot 191 (£1,495 incl. premium)

A set of eighteen dinner plates, 1770 by John Parker & Edward Wakelin, sold Bonham’s Los Angeles, 15 Nov 2016, Lot 57 ($15,000 incl. premium)

The Cremorne Candelabra, 1790/91 by John Wakelin and William Taylor, sold Christie’s London, 15 July 2015, Lot 107 (£902,500 incl. premium)

A candelabrum, 1810 by John Wakelin and Robert Garrard, sold Christie’s 29 Nov 2016, lot 163 (£413,000 incl. premium)