Paul de Lamerie

Paul Jacques de Lamerie was a London-based silversmith. The Victoria and Albert Museum describes him as the "greatest silversmith working in England in the 18th century". He was being referred to as the "King's silversmith" in 1717. Though his mark raises the market value of silver, his output was large and not all his pieces are outstanding. The volume of work bearing de Lamerie's mark makes it almost certain that he subcontracted orders to other London silversmiths before applying his own mark.

In August 1703, de Lamerie became the apprentice to a London goldsmith of Huguenot origin, Pierre Platel (1659-1739). De Lamerie opened his own workshop in 1713 and was appointed goldsmith to George I in 1716. He worked in partnership with Ellis Gamble - formerly apprentice to Master William Hogarth - between 1723 and 1728. His early work is in the simple Queen Anne-styles, following classical French models, but de Lamerie is noted for his elaborate Rococo style of the 1730s, particularly the richly decorated works of an unidentified craftsman, the Maynard Master.

Leaving his first premises in Great Windmill Street he moved to 40 Gerrard Street in 1738. Here he lived and probably had his shop, his workshops being in one of the 48 properties he owned in the area.

His customers included Tsarinas Anna and Catherine, Count Aleksey Bobrinsky, Sir Robert Walpole, the Earl of Ilchester, the Earl of Thanet, Viscount Tyrconnel, the Duke of Bedford, and other members of the English aristocracy. He also worked for King John V of Portugal before losing favour to the Germains of Paris. One of his productions to the Portuguese Court was a huge solid silver bathtub lost in the great 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

He served on Goldsmiths' Company committees although never became Prime Warden. He also served as Captain and then Major in the Westminster Volunteers.

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has the Treby toilet service (29 pieces, London, 1724-1725).

A two-handled silver cup and cover by Paul de Lamerie, dated 1720, was among the wedding gifts of Queen Elizabeth II.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2024