Name/Title
EpergneEntry/Object ID
L.2011.004.2Description
Francis Butty and Nicholas Dumee (English, working, ca. 1758-1773)
Epergne
London, England, ca. 1771/1772
Silver
H. 18 3/4 x W. 9 7/16 x D. 8 5/8 inches
Engraved with Middleton family arms; stamped on bottom: lion passant, crowned leopard's head, date letter, and FB over ND
Lent by Middleton Place Foundation, Charleston, SC, gift of Middleton family descendants,
In May 1768, four years after their marriage, Arthur Middleton (1742-1787) and his wife Mary Izard Middleton (1747-1814) sailed abroad on a three-year grand tour of Europe. When they returned to Charleston, they brought with them goods purchased during their travels, including over forty pieces of elegant plate. Among the silver was this outstanding épergne, with eight hanging baskets, all engraved with the Middleton coat of arms. The vast majority of Arthur and Mary Izard Middleton's eighteenth-century silver has remained in the family, and most of it is currently exhibited at the House Museum at Middleton Place.
A Revolutionary War patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and third-generation colonial Carolina planter, Arthur Middleton inherited Middleton Place, established circa 1705, from his mother Mary Williams Middleton when she died in 1761. Arthur, just twenty at the time, had been in England for about eight years acquiring an education at Hackney, Westminster, Cambridge's Trinity College and the Middle Temple and living with his uncle William Middleton at Crowfield, his family seat. Returning to Charleston in 1763, he assumed responsibility for Middleton Place.
The Middletons' silver epergne's design with its late-rococo naturalistic silver tree limbs and branches and the overall airiness of its delicately formed pierced silver baskets foretells the emerging neoclassical fashion. Its design allowing it to be disassembled for travel suited perfectly the elegantly mobile lifestyle of the Middletons.Collection
Middleton Place Foundation C/O: Historic CharlestoLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
EpergneNomenclature Primary Object Term
Stand, ServingNomenclature Sub-Class
Serving VesselsNomenclature Class
Food Service T&ENomenclature Category
Category 04: Tools & Equipment for MaterialsIntake
Loan In
L.2011.004Lender
Charles Duell, PresidentDate Received
Jan 12, 2011Date Returned
Feb 1, 2011Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
December 6, 2012Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
December 7, 2012