A GEORGE III SILVER CUP AND COVER

MARK OF WILLIAM CRIPPS, LONDON, 1762

Details

On spreading gadrooned foot cast and chased with fruiting vines, the inverted pear-shaped body applied with the arms of the East India Company, the similar shield on reverse engraved with inscription, both cartouches emerging from a vine with fruiting branches on the sides, the scrolling side handles similarly cast with fruiting vines, the domed cover with Bacchic putto, marked underneath and on cover rim, in original fitted wood case
17 in. (43 cm.) high
117 oz. 3 dwt. (3,645 gr.)
The arms are those of the East India Company and the inscription reads: 'The Gift of the Hon.ble East India Company to Capt. W.m Webber for his Gallant Behaviour in the Ship Oxford in Bengall River in the Year 1759'.
Provenance

Presented to Captain William Webber (d.1796) by the East India Company in 1763, then by descent in his family until,
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 24 October 1985, lot 408.
With C. J. Vander (Antiques) Ltd, London, November 1985.
Lot Essay

In 1709 the East India Company, incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in 1600, and the 'New East India Company' established by Parliament in 1698, were joined to form the United East India Company or 'Honourable East India Company'. The Company became a powerful political as well as commercial force in India and Asia. B. Gardner writes in The East India Company, A History, New York, 1971, 'At its height the United East India Company ruled over nearly 1/5 of the world's population, possessed its own army and navy, its own civil service, even its own church.'
The presentation of this cup and cover came at a time of particular importance for the East India Company when their supremacy over the whole of the Indian sub-continent, challenged for many years by both the French and the Dutch, was at last won.
The decisive action, against the French under the Comte de Lally at Wandewash on 22 January 1760, was fought by a comparatively small English army led by Captain (later Sir) Eyre Coote (1726-1783). Following this and other victories the latter returned in triumph to England in 1762 whereupon the grateful Company voted him a 'Sword enrich'd with Diamonds' supplied by the jewellers John and Peter Duval of Warnford Court, Throgmorton Street, for £747'. A few other less valuable but no less interesting gifts were distributed at about the same period of which Captain Webber's cup is a rare survival.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WEBBER
William Webber junior, who joined the East India Company's service on 2nd August, 1758, took command of the Oxford on the following 4th October in preparation for a long voyage to the East. Commencing at Blackwall on 1st November 1758, the vessel eventually returned to Woolwich in September 1761, its furthest ports of all having been to Pondicherry, Culpee and Vhampoa.
After an aborted start, the Oxford finally set sail on 16th February 1759, bound 'From England towards Madras,' reaching Madagascar on 9th June. Here Webber 'sent ye Long boat for water, and all our People on Shore who have got ye Scurvey...’. The following day he observed, ‘The Island.. . Lyes in ye Latd, of 15°. South, but it is advisable to fall in with ye Land twenty miles to ye Soward of it, which afford a Bold Shore, and it is remarkable for a fine White Beach, till you come within a few Leagues of ye Island, where it appears more dark and very woody, and at some distc. Forms in appearance, a Large Bay, but in reality is no [sic] so..I have been greatly Disappointed’ he continued, ‘at my Arrival at this Place, in not being able to Supply myself with any kind of fresh provision whatsoever, as I have no less than twenty People on the Sick List, nine of whom hath ye Scurvey…This Place hath no Likewise Afforded us fruit or Greens..’ Nine days later, when Webber had put in to Comoro, he was able to state, ‘My sick List hath greatly decreased…This Islands abounds in great Plenty of very good Bullocks, Sheeps, Goats, Oranges and Lemmons…’.
On 10th July 1759, the Oxford moored off Point de Galle in the Land of Zeloan' [Sri Lanka] whereupon Webber sent boats for news, later writing, 'we have the Mortification to hear.. that Fort St. Davids was in Possession of the French, & that Madras was besieged by the same, but ye Latter was not Absolutely Confirm'd.' In fact Madras had been attacked by the French until Admiral Pocock's arrival with assistance. The enemy thereafter retreated with five-hundred slain and six-hundred wounded leaving behind cannon and ammunition. Webber then proceeded with the Suffolk and Valentine, both in the East India Company's service, with the British Fleet a little further up the coast to Trincomalee where on 22nd July the ship was unloaded. In the afternoon, he wrote, 'as Jno. Todd, Carpenter, was blowing up some large Trees on Shore for fire wood, the Splinters broke on [sic] of his Legs & otherwise Maim'd him.’
Sailing on for the east coast of India the Oxford by 8th October, 1759, rested at Masulipatnan where she ‘Took on Board some live Stock & Sundrys belongg. to the French Prisoners. In the Evening came on Board with two Ladies . . . Passengers for Madras, In the Night the Prisoners Came on Board Viz. nine Officers and one hundred & thirty Private Men many of them Sick and wounded A few days later the ship was put to rights, 'every part of her having been Lumbered by the French & their Baggage’.
THE EVENTS OF 1759
Now followed the episode for which the East India Company was to distribute gratuities to a few of its captains, including William Webber, and their crews.
On 24th November 1759 the Dutch with several frigates holding crews of fifteen-hundred men attempted to capture the British possessions in Bengal, but they were driven back and taken by the Company's vessels the Duke of Dorset, Calcutta and Hardwicke. Meanwhile on the same day Webber, whose vessel was at nearby Ingellee noted, 'at 2 PM the Pennance Return'd in Tow of a Dutch Sloop, at the same time come on bofarld. Mr. McGwier of the Council at Calcutta who Advised us of the Dutch having Commenced Hostilities up the River by taking some Small Vessels belonging to the Company, and that he had Secur'd the Accompanying Sloop at Culpee and recommended the taking of two Sloops lying in Ingellee Creek, in the Eveng. Man'd & Armed our Boats with Forty men, Put some of the Companys Troops on Board the Sloop which Attended ye Ship & on Board the Dutch Sloop. sent them into the Creek, in the Morning they return'd with the two Sloops, having taken them in the Night without meeting with any Ristance [sic]...’.
Two days later on 26th November Webber wrote again, ‘In the Evening came down the Royal George Captn. Bemish [sic], who Inform'd us that three Dutch Ships and two Pilot Sloops were coming down the River, That he had receiv'd Orders from Mr. McGwire at Culpee to Join us & Attack them. Clear'd Ship & put her in Order for Engaging. At Day light Saw them at Anchor off Rangafulla - At 10 AM Weighd upon the first of the Flood, and work'd towards them a long side with three Persons, on (sicl of which was the Dutch Master attendant who Surrendered without fireing a Shot-Immediately sent on Board them Officers to take Charge, and Hoisted English Colours, At 3 Anchord a little below them - one of the Soldiers Musquets going off by Accident Shot another in the leg, the wound was such that it was Obliged to be Cut off.' A similar account survives in the log of Captain Beamish of the Royal George.
Following the engagement Captain Webber continued with his vessel to Whampoa on the China coast before starting the long journey homewards in December, 1760.
THE REWARD
Meanwhile reports of the ship's endeavours and also those of the Duke of Dorset, Calcutta and of the Hardwicke had reached East India Company House in London where, at a meeting of the Court on 3rd Decembe, 1760, it had been decided to reward their crews. Gifts for the captains were deferred until their return, the Company on 25th May 1762, settling their account with Pearse & Newton, goldsmiths of Newgate Street, City, 'for Plate engraven with ye. Comp(any)s. Arms & Inscription thereon being Presents made The following Com[mande]rs. for their Gallant Behaviour in Bengal River [:] 1 neat Chased Cup & Cover for Capt. John Allen of ye. Dk. Dorset [£]55.5.3 [;] 1 Neat Chased Epergne Capt. George Willson Calcutta [£]107.3.9 [;] 1 Neat Chased Tea Table Capt. Brook Samson Hardwick [£]1105.14-‘.
Later, on 26th January, 1763, the Court ‘Resolved That for the Reasons therein assigned Captain William Webber jnr. have a Gratuity of Fifty Guineas either in Money or Plate at his own Option for his Gallant Behaviour in the Ship Oxford in an Engagement with the Dutch in Bengal River in the year 1759. An Capt. Webber being thereupon called in, was acquainted by the Chairman with the above Resolution, and the Captain after making his Grateful Acknowledgements to the Court, desiring to have a Piece of Plate… Thereafter on 17th March, 1763, the Company duly paid Pearse & Newton, whose connection with William Cripps has been unsuspected until now, 'for a large Chased Cup & Cover engraved with the Companys Arms, with Mott[o] & Inscription thereon... [£]152.5-‘
CAPTAIN WEBBER'S WILL
Captain Webber eventually died on 13th November 1796, owning a house in Duke Street, St. Margaret's, Westminster, and another at Vanburgh Fields, Kent. In his will, signed on 21st December 1794, and proved with six codicils on 20th December 1796, he left the bulk of his property to his wife, Sarah, with further bequests including 'my two large India Cabinets' to his daughters, Sarah and Mary (Elizabeth), limited provision for his son William (who appears at the time to have been in debt), and to his brother Francis Webber, 'the Gold Watch I wear and my Gold Seal with my single Arms hanging to it...’.
He further mentioned his interests in the Canal Navigation of Leeds and Liverpool, the Plate Glass Manufactory, and in the Pantheon in Oxford Street and Ranelagh Gardens, both fashionable places of amusement. Although impossible to tell from this document, or indeed from his wife's will, to whom Webber actually left his East India Company cup, it remained in his family's possession until its sale in at Sotheby's in 1985.

Read more