Charles Robert Ashbee – Ladle, 1900

Charles Robert Ashbee

Ladle, 1900

Silver, walrus or sperm whale ivory, chrysoprase
Manufactured by the Guild of Handicraft, Chipping Campden, UK
l. 43 cm

MARKS : Artist's initials 'CRA', date letter 'e' for 1900, lion passant and leopard's head.

PROVENANCE : Collection of Arthur Currer Briggs, Mayor of Leeds (1903-1904) and Alderman of the City of Leeds (1904-1906) - Thence by direct family descent to the previous owners until 2019.

SIMILAR PIECES : This ladle is the only example of this exact design known fo exist, and only the second ladle by Ashbee to be recorded. The other, of a related design, with a larger semi-precious stone but unmarked, is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, having been made for Ashbee's mother Janet Ashbee. A period photograph of Ashbee's dining-room at the Magpie and Stump, 37 Cheyne Walk, London, show a tureen and ladle which could very well be the V&A's example.

LITERATURE : Charles Robert Ashbee, 'Modern English Silverwork, An Essay by C.R. Ashbee Together With a Series of Designs by the Author', London, 1909, plate 52.

COLLECTION : Temple Newsam - Leeds Museums and Galleries