Lot 466
A RARE SET OF EIGHT VICTORIAN SCOTTISH DINNER PLATES
JOHN MCKAY, EDINBURGH 1849
Scottish Silver & Applied Arts | 530
Auction: 15 August 2018 at 11:00 BST
Estimate: £6,000 - £8,000
Description
the plates of shaped circular outline with cast gadrooned and shell order, the rim engraved with full armorial and mottos (8)
Dimensions
25cm diameter, 151oz combined weight
Footnote
Heraldry:
engraved with the arms of John Hamilton of Broomhill, the 1st Lord Belhaven and Stenton.
Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules a sword palewise argent hilted and pommelled or between three cinquefoils of the second (for Hamilton of Broomhall) 2nd Gules a mullet argent between three cinquefoils ermine (for Hamilton of Udston) 3rd a man's heart proper shadowed or between three cinquefoils ermine (for Hamilton of Raploch), with motto Ryde Through.
The whole arms are enclosed within a circlet which has engraved the motto 'Fax mentis honesta gloria (Glory of the light of a noble mind) with badge of the Baron of Nova Scotia suspended and Barons coronet above.
Notes: The armorials engraved to these plates are somewhat of a historic anomaly. There is no question they are original to the plates but seem to be engraved as almost a historic memorial. At the time of manufacture there was no extant baronetcy in this branch of the Hamilton family, and indeed they appear to most closely resemble the arms of John Hamilton of Broomhill in the County of Fife (born 1623 died 17th June 1679). He was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton who was latterly legitimised. Perhaps these plates were engraved by another family member with great pride in such a lineage and connection to such an important Scottish Family
These plates are not the only example of this family creating such memorials to ancestors; a Meissen Porcelain service with the crest, motto and pendant badge of a Baron of Nova Scotia (as seen on these silver examples) is recorded. Its provenance although slightly unclear it is known to have been in the family of Lord Belhaven and Stenton around 1830. It has also been discussed these plates could have been re fashioned from an earlier set with a direct provenance to the earlier baronetcy.
It should also be noted how rare the survival of Scottish plates is. Other than a few single examples, approximately seven sets are recorded between 1671 and 1840, including the important set by Henry Bethune of 1722.
engraved with the arms of John Hamilton of Broomhill, the 1st Lord Belhaven and Stenton.
Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules a sword palewise argent hilted and pommelled or between three cinquefoils of the second (for Hamilton of Broomhall) 2nd Gules a mullet argent between three cinquefoils ermine (for Hamilton of Udston) 3rd a man's heart proper shadowed or between three cinquefoils ermine (for Hamilton of Raploch), with motto Ryde Through.
The whole arms are enclosed within a circlet which has engraved the motto 'Fax mentis honesta gloria (Glory of the light of a noble mind) with badge of the Baron of Nova Scotia suspended and Barons coronet above.
Notes: The armorials engraved to these plates are somewhat of a historic anomaly. There is no question they are original to the plates but seem to be engraved as almost a historic memorial. At the time of manufacture there was no extant baronetcy in this branch of the Hamilton family, and indeed they appear to most closely resemble the arms of John Hamilton of Broomhill in the County of Fife (born 1623 died 17th June 1679). He was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton who was latterly legitimised. Perhaps these plates were engraved by another family member with great pride in such a lineage and connection to such an important Scottish Family
These plates are not the only example of this family creating such memorials to ancestors; a Meissen Porcelain service with the crest, motto and pendant badge of a Baron of Nova Scotia (as seen on these silver examples) is recorded. Its provenance although slightly unclear it is known to have been in the family of Lord Belhaven and Stenton around 1830. It has also been discussed these plates could have been re fashioned from an earlier set with a direct provenance to the earlier baronetcy.
It should also be noted how rare the survival of Scottish plates is. Other than a few single examples, approximately seven sets are recorded between 1671 and 1840, including the important set by Henry Bethune of 1722.
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