T Royal Silver and The Inner Temple

ROYAL SILVER AND THE INNER TEMPLE

By Richard Parsons

The Inner Temple silver collection ranges from the strictly utilitarian to the entirely decorative. The shape of the object and any provenance is one consideration, but also what it might tell us from the past is to be found from any pictorial or script engraving on the surface. This is particularly evident from coats-of-arms, and those with royal arms make an interesting story.

A sketch of the Gold Cup from a description in the Accounts Book 1607–08

Royal contact with The Inner Temple has been evident from the earliest times. Perhaps not the earliest, but possibly the most important, royal connection to the Inn, is mentioned in the General Accounts Book for 1607–08. Here an object is described that it is believed no longer exists.

The passage records:

“To the King’s goldsmith for half the cup which is to be provided to His Majesty £333. 6s. 8d.”

A subsequent entry for the period 1608–09 states:

“To the goldsmith for making a cup of gold which was given to the King with a velvet case, the one half £7. 3s.”

One has to presume that the Middle Temple provided the other half of the gift to James I, because the princely donation referred to in the text was the granting of letters patent of the then members and their successors in perpetuity, of both The Inner and Middle Temples. This grant was for the virtual freehold of the lands on which the two Inns stand today. (An almost adjacent entry in 1607–08 which might be read as an aside against the background of the recent work to the Inn a rather more modest figure than today:

“For building the library and repairing the old library £129. 7s. 1d”.)

It would appear that the gold cup was sent to Holland, accompanied by the rest of the royal treasure on the instructions of Charles I, to help pay for the royalist cause in the Civil War.

The Dutch Layette Basket

The first Princess Royal, Mary, was the daughter to Charles I, who was exiled as a young girl to the Dutch court at the start of the Civil War in 1642. The exceptionally fine and large Dutch silver Layette Basket of 1645, found in the Hall showcase, is a testament to this. The centre of the basket has an embossed representation of the armorials of her husband, the young Prince William of Orange, and the British royal arms for Mary. Their son, also William, became King William III of Great Britain and Ireland. If one were to interpret the iconography found surrounding the coat-of-arms in the base, it is possible to draw a conclusion that this basket contributed to the existence of their son, with its historical implications.

Over 350 years later, the present Princess Royal opened the additions to The Inner Temple Hall in June this year. Her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, visited the Inn on the 13 November 1952, and on that occasion laid the foundation stone of the New Inner Temple Building. She used a small silver rope-entwined-handled trowel and silver-banded ebony maul, both bearing the Royal Cypher and engraved ‘Inner Temple Hall, 13 November 1952’. This pair of miniature bricklayer’s tools was made by probably the finest designer silversmith of the post-war years, Leslie Durbin.

HMQ laying the foundation stone

There are further precious objects that reside in the Inn’s collection that have a royal pedigree. One is a silver gilt basket of basket-weave form with applied vines and grapes to the inner surface. Weighing over 55 ounces and a diameter of 13.1/4”, it is engraved in the centre with the royal coatof-arms of George III. This fine piece of work was made by Digby Scott and Benjamin Smith II, the celebrated London goldsmiths, in 1804. Scott and Smith received many royal commissions, and examples of their work can be found in the Royal Collection today. Their workshop was located in Greenwich from 1802 to 1807 and during their partnership they were the principal suppliers of silver masterpieces to the esteemed firm of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. The basket was presented by Master Priestley in 1936 and was exhibited in the 1951 exhibition of Historic Plate in the City of London.

The George III silver gilt Basket

Another piece of royal treasure is a silver gilt snuffbox, made in London with the hallmarks for 1948. The form is plain oblong, all the sides being engine turned and the centre of the lid has a diamond and rose diamond blue enamelled plaque of a crown and the Royal Cypher. The inside of the lid is engraved ‘Presented to The Honourable Society of The Inner Temple by His Majesty King George VI, Treasurer 1949’.

The George VI Snuffbox Associated with the above, is an ivory gavel and black oblong wooden block, the block showing signs of determined use. The block bears an inlaid plaque engraved ‘1949 to commemorate the Treasurership of His Majesty the King presented by the Deputy Treasurer’.

The Gavel and Block

Further in the collection are a set of six George II silver candlesticks, all with Royal Cyphers hallmarked for 1730, a pair of pretty silver gilt dishes, hallmarked for 1813 and engraved with a garter badge and the Royal Cypher of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. These dishes were presented by Mrs Hansell in 1925. An Elizabeth II silver treasury inkstand presented by the Pearson family, engraved with the Royal Cypher, and inscribed: ‘Presented to the Right Honourable Lord Pearson CBE, by Her Majesty’s government in recognition of his services as Chairman of the Royal Commission on Civil Liability and Compensation for Personal Injury 1973–78’. It would not be complete without mentioning the exceptionally fine silver gilt tazze bearing the maker’s mark for David Willaume and dated 1720, engraved with the arms of King William and Queen Mary and those of Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, being part of the Schiller bequest of 1947.

The Pegasus Brooch

Finally, contained in a small box but on display in the new vault safe showcases, is a small silver Pegasus badge brooch which was commissioned in 2009, in preparation for the most recent Royal Treasurer in 2011, HRH The Princess Royal.

Richard Parsons

Jeweller & Silversmith

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