Serving Dish on Stand, 1823

This is a large and fabulous quality Georgian silver 2 piece serving dish sitting on its original Old Sheffield plate warming stand. The entrée dish has a removable cover with handle and was made by one of the most important Regency and George IV period silversmiths - Benjamin Smith. He made fine quality hollowware for the Royal Goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. The superb coat-of-arms engraved to the cover is testament to that high quality.

The vegetables (or other food) served in this dish can be kept warm whilst waiting to be served on the table by way of a hot water reservoir within the stand. This two handled stand is made from Old Sheffield plate (fused silver on copper) and is stamped with an open palm mark for Smith & Co of Sheffield - Benjamin Smith would have bought in the stand as these pieces have always been intended for each other. The stand is a fine quality piece in itself with four acanthus decorated feet and an internal pierced plate under which the hot water is kept. The inside of the warming stand is tin plated in typical fashion. There is some copper bleeding through the silver on the edges of the handles, this two tone effect is seen as a desirable feature to many!

This combination of Old Sheffield warming stand and hallmarked silver vegetable dish gives a most impressive appearance. The condition is excellent throughout with some typical knife scratching to the base of the entree dish.  This piece is of the highest quality throughout and would look fabulous in every setting - even when not in practical use.

The Coat of Arms on this piece belonged to David Ricardo MP (1803-1864), the second son of the influential political economist and MP David Ricardo (1772-1823). The elder David Ricardo was a stock broker who earned his fortune speculating on the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. After earning his fortune he retired and bought Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire. Gatcombe Park has been the country residence of Princess Anne since 1976. There is more about the interesting life of David Ricardo on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ricardo .

David Ricardo (the younger) married Catherine St. Quinton in 1817 and inherited Gatcombe Park from his father. David Ricardo was MP for Stroud. This dish was probably part of a much larger dining suite purchased with the inheritance in 1823/24.