拍品专文
The monogram and coronet are those of Harriet, Duchess of St. Albans, Harriot Mellon (1777-1837) was the daughter of Sarah Mellon, an Irish strolling player and an impecunious lieutenant in the Madras Cavalry. Harriot made her first appearance on the stage of a farce called The Spoiled Child at Ulverstone at the age of eleven. Her career as an actress came to an abrupt end in 1815 on her marriage to her longtime admirer, the 83-year old banker Thomas Coutts. On his death shortly thereafter, he left her his universal legatee. The Morning Post recorded that 'some time previous to his death he settled upon Mrs. C. the sum of 600,000 with the house in Stratton-street, all the plate, linen, & c.-the service of plate is said to be the most valuable in any of the country-together with the house in Highgate and all its appurtances . . .the whole makes her the richest widow in the United Kingdom.'
Within three years of Coutt's death, reports of an impending marriage between his widow and the 21-year old heir to the Dukedom of St. Alban's were rife. William Beauclerk succeeded to the Dukedom in 1825 and almost immediately proposed marriage to Mrs. Coutts. It is said that she refused him, telling him to ask her again in a year's time. Sir Walter Scott wrote in his journal 'If the Duke marries her, he ensures an immense fortune; if she marries him she has the first rank. If he marries a woman older than himself by twenty years, she marries a man younger in wit by twenty degrees. I do not think he will dilapidate her fortune; he seems good and gentle. I do not think she will abuse his softness of disposition-shall I say or of-head' [Lockhart, Life of Sir Walter Scott, vol. VIII, pp.116-117]. The Duke's second proposal was accepted by Mrs. Coutts and they were married June 16, 1827. "Before the ceremony, Harriot's servants wore the Coutts livery. Immediately afterwards they appeared in the St. Albans yellow and black stockings" (Brian Masters, The Dukes, 1975, p. 119). It appears to have been a happy marriage, despite the fact that the Duchess kept the pillow on which Mr. Coutts had expired about her at all times, encased in a wooden box.
The Duchess was renowned both for the extravagance of her hospitality and her generosity to those in need. She was vilified by the popular press, who lost no opportunity in attacking her, and she appears to have been either wildly hated or greatly loved by all in society. The Royal Dukes, with the exception of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) were all regular visitors. Prince Puckler-Muskau, a German visitor to London and an indefatigable snob, records in his journal a visit to the Duchess: 'Yesterday, the wedding day of the Duchess of St. A(lbans), was celebrated by a very pleasant rural fête at her villa . . .perhaps there never was a woman who had the art of appearing more innocent and child-like; certainly this captivating sort of coquetry is the greatest charm, though not perhaps the greatest merit, of women." [Austin, trans., A Regency Visitor, 1958, p.306]
The Duchess died in 1837, leaving the bulk of her estate to Angela Burdett-Coutts, her step-daughter. Contemporary newspaper accounts gleefully pointed out that her fortune was the equivalent to thirteen tons of gold, or if in sovereigns it would stretch over twenty-four miles and take ten weeks to count. Angela Burdett-Coutts used her wealth to amass a large art collection and to fund numerous philanthropic schemes for which she was created a Baroness by Queen Victoria in 1871. She resisted numerous suitors until her marriage in 1881 to the American William Bartlett, the younger son of Ellis Bartlett of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Bartlett took the name of Burdett-Coutts in lieu of his own. He sat as M.P. for Westminster from 1885 on and gave considerable assistance to his wife in her philanthropic activities.
Baroness Burdett-Coutts died on December 30, 1906 and her body lay in state for two days, during which time 30,000 people, both rich and poor, paid their last respects. She was buried in Westminster Abbey on January 5, 1906. After her death the bulk of the Duchess's silver remained in storage until 1914 when sold by Christie's [see Charles H. Pearce, The Jolly Duchess, n.d., p.227]
Other pieces engraved with the Duchess' monogram to have appeared at auction recently include a pair of soup-tureens, cover and stands by Philip Rundell, 1820, sold by Christie's, New York, March 23, 1983, lot 213, a Warwick Vase wine-cooler by the same, also sold in these Rooms, January 30, 1988, lot 33, a tea tray of 1817, sold October 25, 1988, lot 412.
Within three years of Coutt's death, reports of an impending marriage between his widow and the 21-year old heir to the Dukedom of St. Alban's were rife. William Beauclerk succeeded to the Dukedom in 1825 and almost immediately proposed marriage to Mrs. Coutts. It is said that she refused him, telling him to ask her again in a year's time. Sir Walter Scott wrote in his journal 'If the Duke marries her, he ensures an immense fortune; if she marries him she has the first rank. If he marries a woman older than himself by twenty years, she marries a man younger in wit by twenty degrees. I do not think he will dilapidate her fortune; he seems good and gentle. I do not think she will abuse his softness of disposition-shall I say or of-head' [Lockhart, Life of Sir Walter Scott, vol. VIII, pp.116-117]. The Duke's second proposal was accepted by Mrs. Coutts and they were married June 16, 1827. "Before the ceremony, Harriot's servants wore the Coutts livery. Immediately afterwards they appeared in the St. Albans yellow and black stockings" (Brian Masters, The Dukes, 1975, p. 119). It appears to have been a happy marriage, despite the fact that the Duchess kept the pillow on which Mr. Coutts had expired about her at all times, encased in a wooden box.
The Duchess was renowned both for the extravagance of her hospitality and her generosity to those in need. She was vilified by the popular press, who lost no opportunity in attacking her, and she appears to have been either wildly hated or greatly loved by all in society. The Royal Dukes, with the exception of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) were all regular visitors. Prince Puckler-Muskau, a German visitor to London and an indefatigable snob, records in his journal a visit to the Duchess: 'Yesterday, the wedding day of the Duchess of St. A(lbans), was celebrated by a very pleasant rural fête at her villa . . .perhaps there never was a woman who had the art of appearing more innocent and child-like; certainly this captivating sort of coquetry is the greatest charm, though not perhaps the greatest merit, of women." [Austin, trans., A Regency Visitor, 1958, p.306]
The Duchess died in 1837, leaving the bulk of her estate to Angela Burdett-Coutts, her step-daughter. Contemporary newspaper accounts gleefully pointed out that her fortune was the equivalent to thirteen tons of gold, or if in sovereigns it would stretch over twenty-four miles and take ten weeks to count. Angela Burdett-Coutts used her wealth to amass a large art collection and to fund numerous philanthropic schemes for which she was created a Baroness by Queen Victoria in 1871. She resisted numerous suitors until her marriage in 1881 to the American William Bartlett, the younger son of Ellis Bartlett of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Bartlett took the name of Burdett-Coutts in lieu of his own. He sat as M.P. for Westminster from 1885 on and gave considerable assistance to his wife in her philanthropic activities.
Baroness Burdett-Coutts died on December 30, 1906 and her body lay in state for two days, during which time 30,000 people, both rich and poor, paid their last respects. She was buried in Westminster Abbey on January 5, 1906. After her death the bulk of the Duchess's silver remained in storage until 1914 when sold by Christie's [see Charles H. Pearce, The Jolly Duchess, n.d., p.227]
Other pieces engraved with the Duchess' monogram to have appeared at auction recently include a pair of soup-tureens, cover and stands by Philip Rundell, 1820, sold by Christie's, New York, March 23, 1983, lot 213, a Warwick Vase wine-cooler by the same, also sold in these Rooms, January 30, 1988, lot 33, a tea tray of 1817, sold October 25, 1988, lot 412.