H. Blairman & Sons Ltd

Designed by Richard Redgrave (1804-88),

for Felix Summerly’s [Henry Cole’s] Art Manufactures (circa1846-50)

Marked for James Charles Edington fl. 1828-1873

Retailed by S.H. & D. Gass

Silver, with silver-gilt interior

Height: 12.7 cm

English (London), 1848

[see image below]

The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue : the Industry of All Nations, 1851, p. 159

Given by Elizabeth Ashpitel to her godson Felix William Denton, 30 December 1851, and by direct family descent

The original box is for S.H. & D. Gass who exhibited this model, in silver-gilt, at the Great Exhibition; it was a christening gift on 30 September 1851.  The exhibition closed on 15 October.

This mug is one of only three of this design known to survive. One, made in 1865, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (VAM 371-1865).  The other is in a private collection, and can be found in the archive section of our website.

According to the V&A’s records, its example was ordered from the London retailer Harry Emanuel. This mug, which varies a little in its details, is engraved under the base, recording that it was purchased from Emanuel and engraved by Aimé Chesneau.

On the present mug and the V&A example, the angels do not have halos; their hair is longer the children are in slightly different poses, and the handle is different from the previous example that passed through our hands.

The original design by Redgrave was published in the catalogue Art Manufactures Collected by Felix Summerly, 1847.  The first recorded (gilded) example (now apparently lost) was shown at the Great Exhibition, 1851; it is illustrated in the Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue, 1851, p. 159.

The design references Psalm 91, ‘He shall defend you under his wings, and thus shalt be safe under his feathers’.