The Thompson Wine Glass: a highly important Beilby enamelled crested wine glass, circa 1769The ogee bowl with a slightly deceptive base, painted with the crest of the Thompson family in purple, white and yellow, an arm in armour embowed quarterly or and azure, holding in the gauntlet proper a broken lance of the first, on a ribbon wreath supported by a scrollwork bracket and flanked by foliage in opaque white, the reverse with a branch of fruiting vine, faint traces of gilding to the rim edge, on a double-series opaque twist stem containing a multi-ply corkscrew within two pairs eight-ply spiral bands, over a conical foot, 15cm highFootnotesProvenance Peter Lazarus Collection Sotheby's, 21 November 2006, lot 68 Chris Crabtree Collection, Bonhams, 19 May 2010, lot 46 Darell Thompson-Schwab Collection Literature James Rush, A Beilby Odyssey (1987), p.131, no.94 Exhibited Bristol Museum and Art Gallery L'Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre Exhibition, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1979, no.44 The Decorated Glasses of William and Mary Beilby, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1980, no.68 The crest on this exceptional glass has been previously attributed to Stephen Thompson (1699-1763) of Kirby Hall in Little Ouseburn, North Yorkshire. However, he died without issue in 1763 and this perhaps just predates this glass. Upon his death title passed to his brother John Thompson (1701-1773). John's eldest son and heir Henry Thompson (1743-1814) married Mary Spence (1750-1843) on 30 January 1769 and it is likely that this glass was commissioned from the Beilby workshop to celebrate the occasion. To the wealthy, titled Thompson family Mary brought her own considerable inheritance as the only child of Thomas Spence of Harts Hall, Suffolk. Indeed, it is now known that Beilby glasses such as this were commissioned to celebrate marriages, with the most notable perhaps being the set of armorial Marriage Glasses made for the marriage of Jane and Crosier Surtees in September 1769, sold by Bonhams on 23 June 2021, lots 9-12. Whilst other Beilby crested and armorial wine glasses are known to have been made in sets, the present glass would appear to be the only example recorded bearing the Thompson crest. A portrait of Mary as Rachel at the Well by the American artist Benjamin West hangs in the Chrysler Museum of Art (inv. no.71.720). Interestingly, Henry Thompson's great-granduncle was Jonas Thompson (1608-1648) of Killerby in Yorkshire, who had married Frances Beilby (born about 1610) of Killerby and Micklethwaite Grange, Collingham, in 1629. The Beilbys of Newcastle-upon-Tyne were directly descended from the Micklethwaite Grange branch of the Beilby family, Francis being the great-grandaunt of the renowned enameller William Beilby A related armorial goblet bearing the arms of Beilby Thompson (1742-1799) of Micklethwaite Grange was sold by Bonhams on 16 December 2009, lot 58.
The Thompson Wine Glass: a highly important Beilby enamelled crested wine glass, circa 1769The ogee bowl with a slightly deceptive base, painted with the crest of the Thompson family in purple, white and yellow, an arm in armour embowed quarterly or and azure, holding in the gauntlet proper a broken lance of the first, on a ribbon wreath supported by a scrollwork bracket and flanked by foliage in opaque white, the reverse with a branch of fruiting vine, faint traces of gilding to the rim edge, on a double-series opaque twist stem containing a multi-ply corkscrew within two pairs eight-ply spiral bands, over a conical foot, 15cm highFootnotesProvenance Peter Lazarus Collection Sotheby's, 21 November 2006, lot 68 Chris Crabtree Collection, Bonhams, 19 May 2010, lot 46 Darell Thompson-Schwab Collection Literature James Rush, A Beilby Odyssey (1987), p.131, no.94 Exhibited Bristol Museum and Art Gallery L'Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre Exhibition, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1979, no.44 The Decorated Glasses of William and Mary Beilby, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1980, no.68 The crest on this exceptional glass has been previously attributed to Stephen Thompson (1699-1763) of Kirby Hall in Little Ouseburn, North Yorkshire. However, he died without issue in 1763 and this perhaps just predates this glass. Upon his death title passed to his brother John Thompson (1701-1773). John's eldest son and heir Henry Thompson (1743-1814) married Mary Spence (1750-1843) on 30 January 1769 and it is likely that this glass was commissioned from the Beilby workshop to celebrate the occasion. To the wealthy, titled Thompson family Mary brought her own considerable inheritance as the only child of Thomas Spence of Harts Hall, Suffolk. Indeed, it is now known that Beilby glasses such as this were commissioned to celebrate marriages, with the most notable perhaps being the set of armorial Marriage Glasses made for the marriage of Jane and Crosier Surtees in September 1769, sold by Bonhams on 23 June 2021, lots 9-12. Whilst other Beilby crested and armorial wine glasses are known to have been made in sets, the present glass would appear to be the only example recorded bearing the Thompson crest. A portrait of Mary as Rachel at the Well by the American artist Benjamin West hangs in the Chrysler Museum of Art (inv. no.71.720). Interestingly, Henry Thompson's great-granduncle was Jonas Thompson (1608-1648) of Killerby in Yorkshire, who had married Frances Beilby (born about 1610) of Killerby and Micklethwaite Grange, Collingham, in 1629. The Beilbys of Newcastle-upon-Tyne were directly descended from the Micklethwaite Grange branch of the Beilby family, Francis being the great-grandaunt of the renowned enameller William Beilby A related armorial goblet bearing the arms of Beilby Thompson (1742-1799) of Micklethwaite Grange was sold by Bonhams on 16 December 2009, lot 58.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
