The design of this centrepiece and a similar example, sold Sotheby's, London, 6 July 2011, lot 32, appear to be prototypes of the rococo revival form employed by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, the Royal Goldsmiths, for the set of four silver-gilt soup tureen and covers, marked for John Bridge, London, 1826 which form part of the magnificent Grand Service of King George IV. They in turn take inspiration from the high rococo Marine Service of the 1740s made for Frederick, Prince of Wales. It has been suggested that the 1820s form was conceived for Rundells by the sculptor and John Flaxman (1755-1826), see S. Bury, 'The Lengthening Shadow of Rundells, part 2', 'The Substance and Growth of the Flaxman Tradition', The Connoisseur, March, 1966, p. 152. The form of the supporting hippocamps or seahorses is believed to have been derived from a similar form found on the silver-gilt mounted nautilus shell cup by Nikolaus Schmidt of Nuremberg, circa 1550, supplied to King George IV by Rundells in 1823, see J. Roberts ed., Royal Treasures: A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London, 2002, p. 267. When sold in 1955 the centrepiece was some two inches higher and weighed 363 oz., suggesting a possibly later stem element has been removed.