{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O104705"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O104705/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BB4611/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BB4611/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BB4611","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O104705/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O104705","accessionNumber":"M.55E-1946","objectType":"Spice dish","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This is one of six related silver-gilt dishes in the V&amp;A collections  which may originally have been part of a larger group of twelve.  They are rare examples of silver intended for dessert, or  'banqueting', a costly course of fruits and sweetmeats which  came after the main meal and was often enjoyed in a separate  location. At the royal palaces of Hampton Court and Nonesuch,  a select few (perhaps six to eight people) would have had their  senses pleased in an intimate banqueting house where all  accoutrements were as luxurious as the food served. Dessert  was an opportunity for hosts to flatter guests with very  expensive rareities such as refined sugar from Cyprus or  Madeira. A silver dish for meat would have been plain, but  dessert dishes, like this one, were elaborately decorated with  fine engraving or chasing (designs hammered into relief) and  were often gilded. Sometimes they were made from another  precious material such as mother of pearl, painted glass or  tortoiseshell.\n\nThe mid 17th century coat of arms engraved on the V&amp;A dishes  hides an earlier erased coat of arms. Faint traces of the earlier  one can be seen, enough to identify the original owner as  William Cecil, 1st Lord Burghley, who was Lord Treasurer and  chief advisor to Elizabeth I and one of the richest and most  accomplished patrons of the arts of the 16th century. The lack  of wear on the dishes raises the possibility that while they  followed the pattern of dessert dishes, they may have been  used primarily for display on a sideboard or 'buffet' rather than  for use. The exquisite and complex scheme of engraving on  each dish would certainly be seen to better advantage. The  engraver combines a border of fashionable arabesque  ornament (scrolls of pointed leaves) encompassing birds,  animals and monsters with fantastical marine scenes in the well  of each dish surrounding a biblical scene in the centre.","physicalDescription":"Spice dish, (one of a set of six, engraved with scenes from the stories of Abraham and Issac), silver-gilt, engraved with with the scene of Jacob kneeling beside the aged Issac who is seated,, surrounded by fanatstic marine monsters.  The rim engraved with panels filled with birds and beasts amdist foliage and roundels engraved with birds and a coat of arms.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Roger Flint","id":"A10530"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":"Probably"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"},{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[{"text":"raising","id":"AAT237068"},{"text":"engraving","id":"AAT53829"},{"text":"amalgam gilding","id":"AAT53790"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver-gilt, engraved","categories":[{"text":"Food vessels & Tableware","id":"THES48952"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006BB4611"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"65","id":"THES49734"},"free":"","case":"1","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Plate","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1573-74","earliest":"1573-05-19","latest":"1574-05-18"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"M.55-1946","id":"O91960"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"M.55A-1946","id":"O104702"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"M.55B-1946","id":"O78604"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"M.55C-1946","id":"O104703"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"M.55D-1946","id":"O104704"},"association":"Set"}],"creditLine":"Purchased with  Art Fund support and assistance from the Murray Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"25.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"495","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Struck on the rim of the dish:\r\nMaker's mark 'RF' in a shaped punch, probably Roger Flint;  Sterling mark, a lion passant; London town mark a crowned  leopard's head; date-letter 'q' in a shield-shaped punch for  1573-1574.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"A shield charged with three lozenges conjoined in fess within a  border; above the lozenges an anulet.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"The arms are pounced on the rim and replace an earlier coat  positioned there. They are probably those of William Montagu of  Oakley, Bedfordshire (died 1691).","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Three identical coats of arms were originally engraved on the  rim of this bowl. Two have been mostly erased and hidden by  scrolling foliage ornament, the third is covered by a later coat of  arms. Close examination of these traces reveals the original  arms to be those of William Cecil, first Lord Burghley (1520-98) , Lord Treasurer to Elizabeth I (Schroder: 2004, pp. 3-4). The  later arms are those of the Montagu family, and may refer to  William Montagu of Oakley, Bedfordshire, fifth son of Lord Chief  Justice Sir Edward Montagu (d. 1556). This is one of six similar  engraved plates, all with Montagu arms, which appear to have  remained in the possession of the family from the seventeenth  to the twentieth centuries, when they were sent to auction at  Christie's, London, by Captain Frederick Montagu who had  inherited the plates from his uncle, Andrew Montagu of  Ingmanthorpe Hall, Yorkshire, and Papplewick Hall,  Nottinghamshire. The Museum purchased all six plates at the  sale on July 3rd, 1946.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Silver-gilt, London hallmarks for 1573-74, mark of Roger Flint, engraved with scrolling ornament, sea monsters and a central scene showing Jacob kneeling beside the aged Isaac, who is seated.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Oman, Charles and Jonathan Mayne. Six Elizabethan Silver-Gilt  Plates. <u>The Burlington Magazine</u>. July 1947, vol. 89, pp. 182  and 184-87."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Glanville, Philippa. <u>Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England. A  Social History and Catalogue of the National Collection 1480-1660</u>. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990. ISBN  1851770305"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Schroder, Timothy. Lord Burghley's silver spice dishes. <u>Apollo</u>.  February 2004, vol. 159, pp. 3-12."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Taylor, Gerald. Some London platemakers' marks, 1558-1624,  <u>Proceedings of the Silver Society</u>. 1984, vol. III.4, pp. 97-100."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Issac","id":"N9619"},{"text":"Jacob","id":"N603"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"coats of arms","id":"AAT126352"},{"text":"sea monsters","id":"x35278"},{"text":"birds","id":"x35043"},{"text":"beasts","id":"x35333"},{"text":"foliage","id":"x42645"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"SET OF SIX SPICE PLATES\r\nSilver-gilt\r\nLondon, 1573-4\r\nMark: FR conjoined\r\nThe engraved sea-monsters are similar to engravings by  Adriaen Collaert of  Antwerp (about 1560-1618) and the birds  in roundels derive from  engravings by Virgil Solis of Nuermberg  (1514-1562). The engraving, of  unusually high quality, is  attributed to the engraver P over M, presumably a  foreign  visitor to London. The arms of Montague on the rim have been   added later.\r\nAcquired with funds from the Murray Bequest and the National  Art- Collections Fund\r\nM.55 to F-1946","date":{"text":"pre-2001","earliest":"2001-01-01","latest":"2001-12-31"}},{"text":"7. Four Spice bowls.\nSilver-gilt\nLondon, 1573-4\nMark of Roger Flynt\nFrom a rare Elizabethan silver dessert or banqueting set. The rich engraving and gilding marked the importance of the final course of the meal, the 'banquet', which usually consisted of expensive sugar-based sweetmeats and fruit. The engraving on the rims, wells and centre of each bowl is in three distinct styles but the sources have not yet been precisely identified. The centres depict the biblical stories 'Abraham entertaining three angels, 'Rebecca at the Well,' Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca' and 'Jacob steals the blessing of Isaac'. A possible source for the marine creatures engraved in the wells is the work of Adriaen Collaert of Antwerp, who published designs in the late 16th century.\nM.55a, c, d, e-1946","date":{"text":"2002 -","earliest":"2002-01-01","latest":"2002-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["M.55E-1946"],"accessionNumberNum":"55","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1946,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2004-09-10","availableToBook":false}}