Two-Handled Cup and Cover
1739–40
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
35.6 × 33.7 × 17.8 cm (14 × 13 1/4 × 7 in.)
Classification
drinking vessel
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
47965
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The animated heads surrounding the lower portion of this cup are the work of a talented artist working under Paul de Lamerie, a highly successful silversmith. The dynamic and witty compositions by this unnamed artist helped establish de Lamerie’s position at the apex of London’s creative community, a diverse network of skilled artisans whose workshops were in close proximity, encouraging a level of collaboration and innovation that enabled London to compete with Paris as an international center ...
About the Artist
Paul de Lamerie · 1688–1751
Paul de Lamerie was born on April 9, 1688, in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Dutch Republic, the son of Paul Souchay de la Merie, a French Huguenot nobleman who had fled France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and subsequently served as an officer under William III of Orange. The family settled in London by 1691, and young Paul grew up in a community of skilled Huguenot craftsmen w...