A very rare Beilby enamelled armorial wine glass, circa 1765-70The round funnel bowl painted in polychrome with a yellow rococo scrollwork cartouche heightened in iron-red, enclosing the coat of arms of Thomas impaling Clayton in black, white and gilt, flanked by foliate sprigs, the reverse with fruiting vine in white enamel pendent from the rim, set on a double-series opaque twist stem with a pair of spiral threads around a multi-ply corkscrew, over a conical foot, 15.1cm highFootnotesProvenance Darell Thompson-Schwab Collection The coat of arms is that of the Right Reverend John Thomas (1712-1793), who was Bishop of Rochester from 1774. Born in Carlisle, he was the eldest son of John Thomas vicar of Brampton, Cumberland. He had a remarkable and distinguished career in the church, beginning on 27 March 1737 when he was ordained a deacon before receiving priest's orders on 25 September that year. On 27 January 1738 he was instituted rector of Bletchingley in Surrey, a living in the gift of Sir William Clayton whose daughter Anne he would go on to marry. Thomas was appointed chaplain in ordinary to King George II on 18 January 1749, a post which he retained under King George III. On 23 April 1754 he was made a prebendary of Westminster and in 1762 was appointed sub-almoner to the Archbishop of York. He was instituted to the vicarage of St Bride's, Fleet Street, London on 7 January 1766 and became Dean of Westminster and of the Order of the Bath in 1768. He was consecrated Bishop of Rochester on 13 November 1774. Thomas was married twice and the arms on the present glass represent his first marriage to Anne, daughter of Sir William Clayton and widow of Sir Charles Blackwell, on 19 August 1742. Anne died on 7 July 1772 and he remarried on 12 January 1776, this time to Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Baldwin and widow of Sir Joseph Yates. The present glass is one from a set of three discovered in the Portsmouth area in 2011 and sold at auction in Chichester later that year. Two others were recorded prior to the discovery, including one sold by Christie's on 6 October 1990, lot 162 and now in in the Durrington Collection, see Peter Dodsworth's catalogue (2006), p.38, no.33 and one sold as part of the Chris Crabtree Collection by Bonhams on 19 May 2010, lot 62. It is likely that the set was commissioned prior to Anne's death in 1772, perhaps to celebrate Thomas' new position of Dean of Westminster and of the Order of the Bath in 1768. A comparable set of four Beilby enamelled armorial glasses bearing the arms of the Surtees family was sold by Bonhams on 23 June 2021, lots 9-12.
A very rare Beilby enamelled armorial wine glass, circa 1765-70The round funnel bowl painted in polychrome with a yellow rococo scrollwork cartouche heightened in iron-red, enclosing the coat of arms of Thomas impaling Clayton in black, white and gilt, flanked by foliate sprigs, the reverse with fruiting vine in white enamel pendent from the rim, set on a double-series opaque twist stem with a pair of spiral threads around a multi-ply corkscrew, over a conical foot, 15.1cm highFootnotesProvenance Darell Thompson-Schwab Collection The coat of arms is that of the Right Reverend John Thomas (1712-1793), who was Bishop of Rochester from 1774. Born in Carlisle, he was the eldest son of John Thomas vicar of Brampton, Cumberland. He had a remarkable and distinguished career in the church, beginning on 27 March 1737 when he was ordained a deacon before receiving priest's orders on 25 September that year. On 27 January 1738 he was instituted rector of Bletchingley in Surrey, a living in the gift of Sir William Clayton whose daughter Anne he would go on to marry. Thomas was appointed chaplain in ordinary to King George II on 18 January 1749, a post which he retained under King George III. On 23 April 1754 he was made a prebendary of Westminster and in 1762 was appointed sub-almoner to the Archbishop of York. He was instituted to the vicarage of St Bride's, Fleet Street, London on 7 January 1766 and became Dean of Westminster and of the Order of the Bath in 1768. He was consecrated Bishop of Rochester on 13 November 1774. Thomas was married twice and the arms on the present glass represent his first marriage to Anne, daughter of Sir William Clayton and widow of Sir Charles Blackwell, on 19 August 1742. Anne died on 7 July 1772 and he remarried on 12 January 1776, this time to Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Baldwin and widow of Sir Joseph Yates. The present glass is one from a set of three discovered in the Portsmouth area in 2011 and sold at auction in Chichester later that year. Two others were recorded prior to the discovery, including one sold by Christie's on 6 October 1990, lot 162 and now in in the Durrington Collection, see Peter Dodsworth's catalogue (2006), p.38, no.33 and one sold as part of the Chris Crabtree Collection by Bonhams on 19 May 2010, lot 62. It is likely that the set was commissioned prior to Anne's death in 1772, perhaps to celebrate Thomas' new position of Dean of Westminster and of the Order of the Bath in 1768. A comparable set of four Beilby enamelled armorial glasses bearing the arms of the Surtees family was sold by Bonhams on 23 June 2021, lots 9-12.
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