Pair of Silver-Gilt Sauce Ladles, 1806 Duke of Sutherland

Duke of Sutherland silver gilt sauce ladles London 1806
Duke of Sutherland silver gilt sauce ladles London 1806 DSCN2125 DSCN2126 DSCN2127 DSCN2130

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Sauce Ladles (pair) - Fiddle & Thread pattern; gilt - London 1806 by Eley & Fearn - 16cm long; 118g combined weight - AE/2123

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This stunning pair of George III period silver-gilt sauce ladles were purchased by George Granville Leveson-Gower soon after he inherited his uncle's estates and became the richest man in the United Kingdom.

The sauce ladles are in fiddle and thread pattern and are beautifully gilt all over (this appears to be later gilding). They were made by the premier flatware makers of the period, Messrs Eley & Fearn and bear the Leveson-Gower crest within a garter to the front terminals. They are in excellent condition.

The engraved crest to these sauce ladles features a wolf passant, collared and lined for the Leveson-Gower family and is surmounted by a coronet. The crest is within a garter containing "Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense" which is the Latin motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter.

George Granville Leveson-Gower (1758 to 1833) was a British politician (MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme 1779-1784 and Staffordshire 1787-1799 and then as a member of the House of Lords), a diplomat (British ambassador to France during the French Revolution), landowner (extensive lands in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Yorkshire and succeeded to the vast estates of his uncle) and patron of the arts (involved in the acquisition of the Orleans Collection and later dispersal).

He was the wealthiest man in Britain following the death of his uncle the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater in 1803. He also succeeded to the title Marquess of Stafford - previously he had been Viscount Trentham (1758-86) and Earl Gower (1786-1803) and was to become the 1st Duke of Sutherland in 1833. He is a controversial figure due to his role in the Highland Clearances in Scotland.

Further information is available on Wikipedia at this link:

George Granville Leveson-Gower, Viscount Trentham