Goblet, 1769-1770

Charles Aldridge and Henry Green

RA Collection: Art

From its founding years, an artist or architect elected to the Council of the Royal Academy of Arts was required to gift silver plateware, engraved with their name. This pair of goblets was gifted by painter Francis Cotes RA in 1769.

Each goblet is engraved around the rim: ‘Given by Fra:^s Cotes R:A: for the Use of the Presd. & Council of the Royal Academy 1769’.

The bowls are trumpet shaped with swirling gadrooned pattern, gilded on the interior. The respective stems are flared with a central ridge, chased with inverted gadroons.

Charles Aldridge and Henry Green, the silversmiths of the works, had formed a partnership in the 1760s. The goblets bear their joint mark.

The works are part of the RA’s Silver Collection of gifted plateware. Inscribed plateware used at academy dinners created a sense of history and connection to both past and present Council members. The convention to gift silver was not followed by all and both its presentation and usage gradually became less observed from the mid-20th century onwards.

In the photograph above, goblet 03/5312 appears on the left and 03/5313 on the right.

Further reading:

P. Glanville, ‘Silver’, R.Simon and M.Stevens ed. The Royal Academy of Arts: History and Collections (New Haven and London 2018) pp.396-411.