a printed paper trade label, ‘RUNDELL BRIDGE & RUNDELL Jewellers Goldsmiths Watch Makers &c TO HIS MAJESTY [George IV] His Royal Highness The Duke of York and ROYAL FAMILY [32] Ludgate Hill LONDON,’ 1820-1827

A letter appeared last week in the Metro, London’s popular free newspaper, wherein the writer expressed his doubt that Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem is Britain’s oldest pub. That honour, he said, was more likely to be held by The George at Norton St. Philip, Somerset. It appears that many an illustrious personage, from Samuel Pepys to the Duke of Monmouth, has quaffed a pint or two there. In a flight of fancy I wondered how many more had been enjoyed at The George by a local boy who grew up to be one of the wealthiest self-made men in England.

I refer to Philip Rundell, born at Norton St. Philip in 1746, who, via an apprenticeship with a jeweller in Bath, went on to become head of the celebrated royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell of Ludgate Hill, London. Between 1804 and his retirement in 1823 Rundell’s chief partners were his nephew Edmond Waller Rundell (1768?-1857), whose mother wrote that 19th Century publishing sensation, A New System of Domestic Cookery, and the urbane John Bridge (1755-1834).

At its height Rundell, Bridge & Rundell employed dozens, if not hundreds, of personnel: from the celebrated artist/designer John Flaxman (1755-1826) to humble plate polishers and pearl stringers. In manufactured silver alone the firm produced for a period at one workshop (Paul Storr superintending) some 10,000 ounces every month.

When Philip Rundell died in 1827 he astonished the world at large by leaving an estate valued at approximately £1 million.

• The following item currently listed by Koopman Rare Art at myfamilysilver.com is of special interest:
  A George IV silver Dessert Bowl / Centrepiece, maker’s mark of Philip Rundell for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, London, 1821