A GEORGE II SILVER BASKET, MARK OF THOMAS GILPIN, LONDON, 1743

A GEORGE II SILVER BASKET
MARK OF THOMAS GILPIN, LONDON, 1743
Shaped oval on openwork base, the rim cast with alternating shells and scrolls, the sides pierced with scrolls and latticework, the overhead handle with leaf-capped scrolls, later engraved with a coat-of-arms, marked underneath and on handle
14 in. (36 cm.) wide
47 oz. 10 dwt. (1,478 gr.)
The arms are those of Kettlewell quartering Eyres, almost certainly for Henry William Kettlewell Eyres (1857-1881), grandson of the wealthy mill owner Samuel Eyres (d.1868) of Armley, Leeds. Samuel Eyres’ daughter Anne had married the Rev. Samuel Kettlewell (1822-1893), but died shortly after her father. The Eyres fortune remained in trust until Henry attained his majority at the age of 21 in 1878. Henry changed his name from Kettlewell to Eyres and married Caroline Sharp in 1880. Tragically he died from a fever in Naples the following year whilst travelling through Europe. Their daughter Caroline Mary Sybil (1881-1959) eventually inherited the Dumbleton Hall estate, which had been acquired for Henry by his trustees in 1875. She married the politician Bolton Meredith Monsell in 1904, her husband taking the additional name and arms of Eyers on his marriage. He was created Viscount Monsell in 1935.