Of oval shape and each raised on 3 scroll legs with shell feet. The slightly bellied sides applied with cast swags of flowers and leaves on a matted ground continuing as chased swags around the lower terminal of the handle. Each leg descending from a matted cast shell and the front lip applied with a mask above a chased shell. Each boat engraved with a crest of a faun's head above the left sided swag and the leaf-capped handles of double scroll form.
The crest is possibly that of Clements
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These delightful boats are smaller than the larger examples generally designed for sauce so are probably for cream. Whatever their purpose they are beautifully proportioned displaying the virtuosity of one of the great 18th century English silversmiths. George Wickes was born in 1698 and apprenticed to Samuel Wastell in 1712. He entered his first mark in 1721 and by 1735 he was appointed principal goldsmith to Frederick, Prince of Wales. Arthur Grimwade, in the biographical section of London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, states "There is little doubt that from 1735 onwards Wickes' clientele was as large and important as ( if not possibly more so) Lamerie's and the quality of his productions, whoever the executants, in no way inferior to the latter's"
The appeal of these boats lies in the careful balance of rococo ornament to the plain unadorned areas. The new fashion from France, which first appeared in England in the late 1720's, allowed silversmiths endless possibilities to show off their technical prowess. Sometimes this resulted in over worked decoration but Wickes' mastery of design is evident in so much of his work whether it be The Scrope ewer and basin or Lord North's tureen. In 1737, the year before these boats were made, Wickes supplied a similar but larger example to Admiral Vernon and is illustrated in Elaine Barr, George Wickes, The Royal Goldsmith 1698-1761, p.125, pl.82. The condition is excellent and the chasing crisp.