Pair of George III covered serving dishes from the Burdett Coutts Dinner Service

A very fine pair of George III covered serving dishes from the Burdett Coutts Dinner service

Made in London in 1799 by Robert Sharp

The Dishes are circular in form with a gadrooned rim and reeded drop ring handles.  The slightly domed pull off covers terminated in a reed and crossed branch finial.  The cover is engraved with a contemporary Armorial, flanked by a crossed branch cartouche, tied with ribbons, as well as three Crests.  The base is engraved, on one side, with the same triple Crests as seen on the cover and a fourth Crest on the other side of the base.  Each piece is very well marked and is engraved with its number in the dinner service and original scratch weight.  The quality of design and production is exceptional, as would be expected from this fine maker who enjoyed the patronage of George, Prince of Wales, later George IV, when he was furnishing his Carlton House residence in London. This is the second time we have offered items from this dinner service, as we sold six dinner plates from this service in 2011.

The contemporary Armorial is that of the Payne family and the Crests are those of Bartlett Burdett Coutts, for William Lehman Ash Bartlett (later Bartlett-Burdett-Coutts), son of Elias Bartlett of Plymouth Massachusetts U.S.A.  In 1881 Victorian society was shocked when, aged 29, he married his employer Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts.  She was 67.

Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, 1814-1906, was a nineteenth century philanthropist, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet and the former Sophia Coutts, daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts.  In 1837 she became the wealthiest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather’s fortune of nearly three million pounds, following the death of his second wife Harriet Mellon, who had enjoyed a life interest in the estate.  Angela joined the surnames of her father and grandfather, by Royal licence, to become Burdett-Coutts.  King Edward VII is reported to have described her as “After my mother(Queen Victoria), the most remarkable woman in the Kingdom.

She was created the 1st Baroness Burdett Coutts in 1871 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Height: 5.25 inches.

Diameter: 8.6 inches.

Weight: 80oz, the pair

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance