LONDON.- Thomas Goode & Co., home to the world’s finest tableware, china, silver and crystal on London’s South Audley Street since 1845 and in Mayfair since 1827, is opening-up its collections for the first time in 200 years for an auction with Sotheby’s.
Over nearly two centuries of production and collecting, Thomas Goode has accumulated numerous wonderful objects, including one copy of every commissioned piece supplied for their own archives. Many of these treasures have been stored unseen in the attics and vaults, until now.
Highlights unveiled in this sale include a Coronation Cup made to celebrate Edward VIII’s coronation, which never happened; Thomas Goode’s own copy of a miniature dinner service commissioned for Queen Mary’s famous Dolls’ House at Windsor Castle; plates commissioned by The Royal Household for Buckingham Palace, and a lot named “The Emperor’s Table”, which includes a complete Sevres dinner service made for Napoleon I, a magnificent St Louis Chandelier, all sitting atop a mahogany dining table with 12 carved chairs from the reign of George IV.
Also included are a beautifully detailed collection of 30 lots of historic Royal glassware, celebrating the coronations and jubilees of HM The Queen, her father, HM George VI and grandfather, HM Edward VII. There are commemorative pieces for Winston Churchill, and one impressive tankard which celebrates a voyage now considered the beginning of the special relationship between the United Kingdom and The United States, namely the first trip of a first reigning British monarch to the U.S., when HM George VI and HM Queen Elizabeth visited Washington and New York in the summer of 1939.
Sotheby’s auction will present these vintage pieces and collectibles, alongside fine tableware and dinner services, in an online sale open for bidding from 22 December to 8 January at
Sothebys.com/ThomasGoode.
Chairman of Thomas Goode & Co, Johnny Sandelson said: “While delving into Thomas Goode’s vaults and attics to draw out these historic pieces for sale, we have been transported back in time to the grand table settings and elegant dinners of a seemingly bygone era, evoked by the likes of Downton Abbey and The Crown. However, all trends come back around, and in recent months, we have been watching in delight as leading magazines and social media platforms - these modern arbiters of taste – have been flooded with images of exquisitely detailed tables, signalling the return to quality, and to our designs once more.
Thomas Goode were the original creators of the ‘tablescape’ 200 years ago, and have been designing tableware not only for Emperors, Tsars, Kings, Queens and Maharajas over three centuries, but also, from the 1860s for London’s burgeoning middle classes. This sale provides not only unique historic collectibles, but fine modern tableware and recent collections commissioned from Sabyasatchi and Jeff Garner.
At the heart of this auction, we are offering everyone a chance to own a Thomas Goode table, from a selection of 40 of the finest dinner and tea services. Our tableware now stands once again at the forefront of luxury and interior design. If a buyer requests, and subject to lifting of Covid restrictions during 2021, we will also provide a free demonstration to each lucky owner on how to best table scape their possessions.”
Sale Highlights: Royal and Noble Commissions
Tablescapes
A selection of some 30 contemporary dining and tea services from the world’s finest porcelain, silver, crystal and glassware manufacturers, many of which are unique items commissioned especially for Thomas Goode.
Plates commissioned by The Royal Household for Buckingham Palace (Est. £1,500-2,500)
One design shows the Royal Garter in the centre of the plate, another has a crown in the centre and a Buckingham palace stamp underneath.
Further designs were commissioned by a British ambassador for formal dining, or by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at Chatsworth House (a white dinner plate with gold edge and the Cavendish family crest). And, demonstrating Thomas Goode’s historic reach across the world, other plates carry the device of the United Arab Emirates, and that of the Sultans of Oman, and the Saudi Royal family. Finally, a historic Spode plate with an Elephant design, dating back to 1938, was commissioned by an Australian cavalry regiment
The Queen Mary Dolls’ House, Dinner Service (Est. £20,000-30,000)
An extremely rare miniature dinner service commissioned in 1922, as a gift to HM Queen Mary for the world’s most famous Dolls house doll’s house at Windsor Castle. One of the “crown jewels” of the sale.
Considered “the largest, most beautiful and most famous doll’s house in the world”, the five foot-tall house with working electricity, silver bath taps and flushing lavatories, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 1920s as a gift for HM Queen Mary, Queen Consort to HM King George V and grandmother of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Over 1,500 artists, craftsmen and Royal Warrant holders were employed to create each element of the house in miniature, including Thomas Goode, who were requested to create three miniature white porcelain dinner services for the doll’s house. Comprising 76 pieces in total, the sets were required for ‘use’ in the State Dining Room, The Nursery and The Kitchen.
As with every commission, Thomas Goode kept one copy of each article supplied for their own archives, and now, Sotheby’s will offer the pairs to these three sets in this auction. This lot is accompanied by a facsimile of a letter from Queen Mary thanking Thomas Goode for their kindness.
“The Emperor’s Table” (est. £350,000-450,000) includes the following:
A Sevres dinner service made for Emperor Napoleon I. One of the largest collections of memorabilia from Napoleon’s personal collection. Hand-paste porcelain with a decorative hand painted floral design of rose peonies and leaf garlands.
The service consists of 30 plates; two large footed circular comports decorated to the outside; four smaller bowls decorated to the inside with two small oval tureens with covers and stands
• A magnificent George IV (c.1790) mahogany 4 pedestal Dining Table by Gillow & Co. of Lancaster and London with 12 generously proportioned carved mahogany original chairs in the Chippendale style
• A 36 branch St Louis Crystal Chandelier, with a gilded frame on 3 tiers, dressed with strands of crystal pendants and shades with gilded and engraved details
• An impressive Silver plate and gilt three-piece mirrored plateau with centrepiece and two comports
• Sterling silver rococo style candelabra by Odiot
• Antique mother of pearl cutlery and an exquisite set of 36 Moser drinking glasses
Sale Highlights: Bespoke Commemorative Glassware
Thomas Goode & Co has a tradition of making commemorative glass goblets to commemorate national and Royal occasions, and the auction includes a selection of glass from the collection. This tradition continues today as plans are afoot for the design of a special edition to mark Her Majesty’s platinum anniversary in 2022.
Coronation Cup designed to commemorate the coronation of Edward VIII (est. £3,000-5,000)
A glass handled bowl with crown cover designed for the coronation of Edward VIII. A rare piece of glassware made for the coronation that never happened. Instead, the intended date of 12th May 1937, saw the coronation of his brother George VI, which was commemorated by The Ruby Vase, with its hand gilded inscriptions. The accession of George V1, placed Queen Elizabeth and her children into the direct line of succession.
A Three Handled Cup Celebrating the Coronation of Elizabeth II (est. £2,500-3,500)
Specially minted silver coin contained within.
Churchill Commemorative Goblet celebrating his honorary American Citizenship (est. £2,500-3,500)
Churchill was the first person ever bestowed with this honour by the United States. Inscribed as follows: “The Right Honourable Sir Winston Churchill Born 30th November 1874. Son of Lord Randolph Churchill and Lady Churchill nee Miss Jenny Jerome of New York. Fiel Pere Desdic Hado. Prime Minister of Great Britain 1940-1945 1951-1955.
Glass Tankard to celebrate the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the United States (est. £3,000-5,000)
In 1939 George became first reigning monarch to ever visit the United States: an important event for marking the beginning of the “special relationship”. This object commemorates a key moment Britain’s history, when Churchill appealed to the United States for their support as the dark war clouds gathered over Western Europe. The strong sentiment that exists between the British monarchy and their popularity that continues to the present.
