A cut-glass paperweight of sarcophagus inspiration enclosing a sulphide profile portrait bust of the Duke of York; the portrait after the work by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Made around 1827, probably to commemorate the death of the duke in that year.
Apsley Pellatt (1791-1863) was a politician and London based glassware manufacturer. In 1819 he took out his first patent for the making of ‘sulphides’ or cameo encrustations, whereby ceramic sculptures or portrait busts could be inserted into an opening made into hot glass and then resealed. Apsley Pellatt & Co became the most famous and successful producers of such things in the country, rivaled only by Baccarat in France.
Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany, (1763-1827) was the second son of King George III, the younger brother of George IV. He was the British field commander in two unsuccessful campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. Defeated at Hondschoote, in 1793 and at Tournai in 1794 he was driven into retreat through Belgium and in 1799 he led an Anglo-Russian invasion against the French in occupied Holland. Being defeated at Bergen and Castricum he was forced to sign the Convention of Alkmaar and evacuate his troops.
h :4 inches x w:3 1/2inches x d:2 1/8inches
Item Code: 4827
£ 850
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