An important and unrecorded Jacobite engraved ceremonial 'Confederate Hunt' goblet, circa 1759-60

Footnotes

Provenance
Private Collection, St. Martin's near Oswestry, Shropshire
Thence by family descent to the present owner

Of the many Jacobite clubs and societies that flourished in the middle of the 18th century, perhaps the best known is The Cycle Club, also known as The Cycle of the White Rose. This was founded by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn of Wynnstay, who was a prominent Jacobite supporter. The Cycle Club met at the Eagle in Wrexham and later at Wynnstay, its members all living within a fifteen mile radius. Interestingly, the present lot was passed to the present owner by a relative who farmed at Sandhole Farm near Wiggington, less than five miles from Wynnstay. Although Sir Watkin Williams Wynn died in 1749, the head of the family continued in the role of Patron, while his wife was the Lady Patroness of the Cycle Club.

The Confederate Hunt was a separate club probably affiliated with the Cycle Club. This goblet commemorates the election of Sir Watkin's second wife Frances as Lady Paramount of The Confederate Hunt. This Lady Williams Wynn, the 3rd Baronet's widow, was born Frances Shakerley and she was therefore a member of one of the other Jacobite families mentioned on the goblet. In Jacobite clubs the Lady Patroness was usually an unmarried lady of the neighbourhood. The Patroness, sometimes accompanied by a lady guest, was the only female member allowed to attend club dinners. The Lady Patronesses listed on this glass are Miss Mytton - 1754, Miss Owen - 1755, Miss Shakerly [sic] - 1756, Miss Williams - 1757 and Miss Nelly Owen - 1758. The Mytton family seat at Halston Hall is a stone's throw from Sandhole Farm. Hartshorne noted that the Tarporley Hunt, another Jacobite Society, also had Lady Patronesses and that in 1762 members drank claret from 'collar glasses' which were supposed to have held a bottle.

The many Jacobite clubs, including The Confederate Hunt, are discussed by Peter Lole, A Digest of the Jacobite Clubs, Royal Stuart Society Paper LV (1999). In a nod to secrecy, this goblet refers to the Jacobite cause as 'old Interest', in this case by way of a reference to The Old Interest Society, another Jacobite club that was involved in the parliamentary election in Oxfordshire in 1754. According to Lole, it was reported that The Old Interest Society used glasses engraved with the Tartan Portrait of Prince Charles. A decade or more after the Jacobite uprising, most Jacobite clubs supported the Cause in little more than name. Their meetings were political gatherings held in support of the Tories and to oppose the Whigs. This goblet refers to Messrs Wenman and Dashwood who, in 1754, had been the Tory candidates for Oxfordshire. Both were returned as MPs but lost their seats on a Whig petition. This Dashwood was a cousin of Sir Francis Dashwood, who became Chancellor and was notorious as the begetter of The Hell Fire Club.

Three other 'Confederate Hunt' goblets are recorded, all with bowls of the same generous proportions. One is now in the Museum of London (acc. no. 34.139/313) and came from the Garton and Hamilton Clements Collections, via Cecil Davis and a Sotheby's sale on 15 May 1930, lot 150. It is illustrated by Grant Francis, Old English Drinking Glasses (1926), pl.LXXIX. Another from the W Jackson Collection is described by Hartshorne, Old English Glasses (1897), p.313 and was sold by Sotheby's on 15 September 1992, lot 43 where it was acquired by the National Museum of Wales. The third, known as 'The Wynnstay Cup', was in the Lord Harlech Collection at Glyn Cywarch, sold by Bonhams on 29 March 2017, lot 117.

It is interesting to note that the other three known examples have all been broken through the stem following what must have been a particularly riotous club meeting, but were preserved at the time with crude repairs and replacement feet. Whilst it seems the stem and foot of the goblet in the present lot was discarded, it is possible that this took place at a later date.