Jim Peake
Head of Department
Lot 4
An important engraved Duke of Cumberland airtwist portrait goblet of anti-Jacobite significance, circa 1750
23 June 2021, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £10,837.50 inc. premium
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An important engraved Duke of Cumberland airtwist portrait goblet of anti-Jacobite significance, circa 1750
The generous bucket bowl with the profile portrait of Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, within a circular frame with a sunburst border inscribed 'HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS WILLIAM DUKE OF CUMBERLAND', set on a multi-spiral airtwist stem with shoulder and central knops, over a conical foot, 19.1cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
With Arthur Churchill Ltd (paper label)
G S May Esq. Collection, Lyon & Turnbull sale, 4 September 2019, lot 133
Niall Kenny Collection
This goblet belongs to a rare group of anti-Jacobite glasses commemorating William, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765), third son of King George II. It is possible that it was commissioned for The Cumberland Society, a drinking club formed to celebrate the Duke's victory over the Jacobite rebels at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the last major battle fought on British soil. The portrait is very similar to those on a pair of wine glasses thought to have been used at the meetings of The Cumberland Society. One from Harvey's Wine Museum was sold by Bonhams on 1 October 2003, lot 144 and the other was sold by Bonhams on 30 November 2011, lot 26 as part of the A C Hubbard Collection. The latter is illustrated by L M Bickerton, Eighteenth Century English Drinking Glasses (1986), p.288, no.918 and by Ward Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2000), p.84, pl.111. It has been suggested that the portrait may have been based on a 1746 medal of the Duke by Martin Holtzhey, but it instead appears to be based on an 1747 engraving by G Scotin after J Gracieux, which has an identical frame.
