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bleeding bowl , bon-bon dish , bowls , butter dish , dish , electroplate , fruit basket , plate , Regimental silver

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A matched pair of silver dishes, each with shallow recesses within a reed and foliate edge border; one by Ann Craig & John Neville, London 1741, diameter 287mm / 11 9/16 inches, weighs 838.6 grams / 27 oz (numbered No 6 and with scratch weight 29.1); the other by George Methuen, London 1751, diameter 282mm / 11 1/16 inches, weighs 874.5 grams / 28 oz

Both dishes engraved with the arms of John Churchill. the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) with Jenyns in pretence. The arms are encircled with the Garter and ensigned with a ducal coronet. The whole is resting on the Imperial double headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire.

The 1741 example ordered by Sarah, 1st Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744) daughter and sole heiress of Richard Jenyns, of Sandridge in Hertfordshire. She married John Churchill on the 1st October 1678.The 1751 matching example was presumably ordered to extend the service after Sarah's death.

Twelve smaller silver plates from the same service by Ann Craig & John Neville, London 1740, similarly engraved, descended to Sarah Churchill's granddaughter, Mary (d.1789), wife of Thomas Osborne, 4th Duke of Leeds (1713-1789) and then by descent to George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds (1862-1927). They were sold by the 10th Duke of Leeds Will Trust, Christie's, 18 March 1987, lot 300.

Sarah Churchill was an extraordinary woman and a forceful presence at Court and in politics for almost seventy years. A close confidante of Queen Anne, she ardently promoted the Whig political cause and helped advance her husband's military career. With ceaseless energy, Sarah oversaw the design, building and decoration of Blenheim Palace on royal land granted to the Churchills after the first duke's victory over the French at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. The arms on the silver dishes matches those on the pediment of Blenheim.

John Churchill was noted for his prowess on the battlefields of Europe during the late 17th Century and the first years of the 18th Century culminating with his great victory at Blenheim. He received many honours during his military career notably his Dukedom as well as the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

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