ECS-S.96-2014
Parts
Object number
ECS-S.96-2014
Object type
Identification
Title
Wren Alms Basin
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Silver gilt Alms Basin
Comments
These matching pieces were acquired for College Chapel at the time of the Restoration. Their orb and star maker's mark suggests they were made by Robert Gregory. Gregory worked for Sir Robert Vyner (1631-1688), who was appointed the King's goldsmith in 1661.
Other number
96
Description
Dimensions
diameter (actual size): 509mm
Inscription description
Leopards head crowned
Lion passant
Date mark: 1661-1662 (worn)
Maker's mark: orb and star
Lion passant
Date mark: 1661-1662 (worn)
Maker's mark: orb and star
Material
silver
Physical description
Silver gilt, large and plain with a wide flat rim and ovolo edge. Four lobes in central depression.
Production
Person
Unknown (Silversmith)
Date
c.1661-1662
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Though to have been brought by Matthew Wren (1585 - 1667; uncle of Christopher Wren) from his private chapel at Ely and presented by him to Eton College Chapel (where he was buried)
Previous ownership
References
• Jones, E. Alfred, The Plate of Eton College, The London Saint Catherine Press, 1938 (p.55 pl. XXVII)
• Sothebys: An Exhibition of Silver from Eton College 1990 (p. 28 )
• Mitchell, David M., Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London (p. 614)
• Sothebys: An Exhibition of Silver from Eton College 1990 (p. 28 )
• Mitchell, David M., Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London (p. 614)
