Soup Plate with double Coat-of-Arms, 1833

We are offering for sale a stunning quality Georgian period silver soup plate or serving platter with a great provenance.

This beautifully shaped soup plate has a top quality gadroon mount around the edge interspersed with nicely detailed shell and leafy scroll motifs. The border bears two excellent engraved coat-of-arms representing a marriage between two important families and a connection to the very famous Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

One coat-of-arms bears the Latin motto "Cervus Lecessitus Leo" which translates to "The Stag at Bay becomes a Lion" - this is the motto of the Irish branch of the Sheridan  family.

The second coat-of-arms are flanked by two soldiers riding horses and includes the Latin motto "Te Favente Virebo" which translates to "Under Thy Favour, I Shall Flourish" these are the arms and motto of the Grant Clan and specifically to Sir John Colquhoun Grant.

This is a high quality soup plate by a premier silversmith; it has a good weight and is in fine condition throughout with just a small amount of typical scratching.

Provenance: The arms on this dish relate to the marriage of a celebrated couple from the 1830's - Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Marcia Maria Grant who at first caused scandal when they eloped, but later married on 18th May 1835.  Richard was the grandson of RB Sheridan the famous satirist, playwright, poet, MP and long time owner of The London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and who is buried at Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey. Marcia Maria Grant was the only daughter of Sir John Colquhoun Grant, the British cavalry general and hero of Waterloo. More about these celebrities can be found on Wikipedia.