About this lot
Description
A pair of Edward VII silver entrée dishes and covers,
mark of the Goldsmiths' & Silversmiths' Company, London 1903, of traditional oval panelled form with reeded edges, the covers with bayonet fitting detachable handles, one engraved with an impaled armorial, to the left, that of Lt. Col. WILLIAM MALEBISSE BECKWITH DSO, late Coldstream Guards, to the right that of MURIEL BEATRICE GORDON-LENNOX, daughter of Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox KG, GCVO, CB, 7th Duke of Richmond and Gordon, signed to the underside, 31 x 24cm, 106.5ozt gross (2)
Provenance: Julians Park, Hertfordshire.
Footnote:
The Beckwith family are descended from William Beckwith, circa 1364, of Beckwith, Yorkshire, who held the Manor of Beckwith with Beckwithside during the reign of King Edward III. William was born on 30th August 1877, the only son of Henry John Beckwith, of Milichope Park, Shropshire and of Trimdon and Silksworth House, Durham and his wife, Kathleen Elizabeth Wade.
Muriel was born on 18th October 1884, the third daughter of Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, the 7th Duke of Richmond and Gordon and his wife, Isabel Sophie Craven. She grew up in Goodwood House, Sussex and Gordon Castle in Moray, Scotland at the heart of the Gordon-Lennox family’s Scottish estates.
They married at the Parish Church of St George Hanover Square, Westminster, London on the 30th April 1904. The hallmarks on this example are dated 1903, so it’s likely this was a wedding gift or possibly a special commission in celebration of the marriage.
She became Lady Muriel Beckwith and trained as a nurse, working in Gordon Castle, which became a military hospital during the First World War looking after convalescing wounded soldiers.
During their marriage they had five children: one son and four daughters
The marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1933, after which William married Eileen Carter, the daughter of the late H.J. Carter on the 12th October 1933, whilst Muriel married Commander Lewis Derek Jones, RN of Stoke Lodge, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire on the 2nd August 1933.
After writing her memoirs “When I remember: a Reflection of the Golden Age”, published in 1937, Muriel went on to write recipe and cookery books, which was unusual in an era when hostesses were not expected to know how to cook. One can only speculate as to whether one of her recipes might have been presented in these handsome dishes.
Commander Jones died on 31st October 1968, and Lady Jones died on 13th April 1969. William Beckwith died on 24th December 1954
Back to lot listings