Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
Drinking cup, 1853
Silver, enamel
Made by John Hardman & Co., Birmingham, UK
h. 13,1 cm - w. 9,8 cm
MARKS : Hallmarked for John Hardman & Co., Birmingham and date letter D for 1852/1853. The initials 'EK' and 'R' (or possibly 'K') each twice in enamel roundels.
PROVENANCE : Commissioned by Edward King, 13 Queen Square, Bath, and delivered to him on 18th June 1853 at a cost of £9 17s 6d. King was an attorney and solicitor who died in Paris on 16th April 1855. His wife Sarah King died in 1888.
SIMILAR PIECES : The design of this piece closely follows Pugin's designs for two other beakers, known as the 'Pugin' and 'Knill' beakers. The former was made for Pugin himself in 1843, bearing his monogram 'AWP' and motto 'En Avant'. The latter was supplied by Hardman to Stuart Knill on 12th September 1851 to be given by his mother Elizabeth Knill (the aunt of Pugin's third wife Jane) to her goddaughter Margaret Pugin, who was born on 17th October 1849 (see H. Blairman and Sons, Furniture and Works of Art, 2015, n°4).
EXHIBITED : Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK, 2018
LITERATURE : John Hardman & Co., Metalwork Sales Day Book 1849-1854, at The Library of Birmingham, 175/A/4/4/3/2.
COLLECTION : Museum of Fine Arts, Boston