MARK OF JOHN EVANS, LONDON, 1600

Details

A RARE ELIZABETH I SILVER-MOUNTED NAUTILUS-SHELL CUP
MARK OF JOHN EVANS, LONDON, 1600
The shell with shaped and engraved foliage border, the scroll straps of each side applied with a mermaid astride a shell playing a musical instrument, the central strap decorated with a female caryatid and foliage ornament, the stem cast as Neptune seated on a dolphin, all on a domed base decorated with grotesque masks and fruit and foliage decorated strapwork, marked on base
10 5/8 in. (27 cm.) high

Provenance

with S. J. Phillips, London, 1995.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Research by Piers Percival into this maker (see P. Percival, 'John Evans, Maker of Steeple Cups', The Silver Society Journal, 2000, no. 12, pp. 128-133) has revealed both his identity and some 14 cups by him dating from between 1594 and 1617. Several of these are markedly German in character and at least one may be a direct import made presumably in sterling standard so it could be hallmarked in England and thus legally sold there. There were, however, several hundred alien goldsmiths who were not allowed to open their own workshop but who were working in London at this period. It seems probable that one or more of these foreign workers supplied John Evans with cups that he submitted for marking. This may well explain the unusual form of this rare London marked nautilus-cup, a form which is most often the work of Augsburg or Nurmeburg silversmiths.

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