The ovoid shaped ewer on spreading foot chased with panels of scrolls on matted ground, the body partly fluted and applied with a band of Renaissance style panels interspersed with laurel framed medallions centred with female bust, the front engraved with a crest, the narrow collar cast beneath the spout with a bearded male mask, the scrolling handle with Minerva thumbpiece, the shaped circular basin with gadrooned border, the rim decorated with medallions centred by female bust alternating with the Allegory of the Four Seasons and the Fine Arts, the well fluted, the raised centre with crest framed by cartouche of scrolls and inscription, marked on ewer's foot-rim and underneath basin, further stamped R & S GARRARD PANTON ST LONDON
The ewer 27 in. (68.7 cm.) high; the basin 26⁵⁄₈ in. (67.5 cm.) wide
376 oz. 10 dwt. (11,712 gr.)
The crest is that of the Sneyd for Ralph Sneyd (1793-1840) of Keele Hall, Staffordshire.
The inscriptions read 'THIS SALVER AND EWER WERE PRESENTED TO RALPH SNEYD ESQUIRE BY THE TENANTRY OF HIS ESTATES AT KEELE HALL IN THE YEAR 1860 / A TESTIMONIAL OF THEIR RESPECT FOR HIS CHARACTER AND OF THEIR GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OF HIS LIBERAL AND CONSIDERATE CONDUCT AS A LANDLORD.'

Presented to Ralph Sneyd (1793-1870) of Keele Hall, Staffordshire by the tenants of the Keele Hall Estate, then by descent to,
The Sneyd Heirlooms, removed from Keele Hall; Christie's, London, 24 June 1924, lot 113 (£584 to Comyns).
With William Comyns, London, from 1924.

The Staffordshire Advertiser, 'Keele Farmers Club Annual Meeting and Presentation of the Patron', 29 September 1860, p. 8, col. d.

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Lot Essay

The Keele estate was purchased by William Sneyd in 1540 and remained in the family until 1948 when it was acquired by the Stoke-on-Trent Corporation. The Sneyds were successful drapers and merchants in Chester and increased their wealth through marriage. After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, Sir William Sneyd bought the Keele estate and other lands. The first Keele Hall was built in 1580 though nothing remains from this time apart from the quarry. It was Ralph Sneyd (1793-1870) who rebuilt the Hall. Eldest son of Walter Sneyd, M.P. for Castle Rising and Louisa Bagot, daughter of William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot, he was educated at Eton and Oxford.

He inherited the estate and house from his father in 1829, which he proceeded to rebuild, developing the garden from 1830. He acquired more land and expanded the village. He went into the business of mining coal without much success. In 1848 he hired Andrew Thompson to run his estate, who introduced improved farming methods. Sneyd hired the architect Anthony Salvin (1799-1881) to remodel Keele Hall from 1854 to 1860. Sneyd was also a keen collector of manuscripts. Upon his death, his estate passed to his brother Walter and then his nephew Ralph (1863-1949) who rented it to the Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia from 1901 to 1910. It now forms the campus of Keele University.