On shaped round flaring fixed silver-gilt stand with scroll feet alternating chased fleurs-de-lis at lower border and strapwork-bounded shell knuckles above ovolu band at upper border, the stepped domed base cast with running foliage linking strapwork masks, the baluster lower body with lobes cast with male and female masks, the upper body cast, chased and applied with a strapwork cartouche depicting Britannia before an allegory of the demise of slavery, applied beneath the spout with large mask of Venus, openwork double scroll handle applied with conforming cast decoration, engraved to the handle's left with presentation inscription in a strapwork cartouche surmounted by a female mask and lions' heads in profile, the front engraved with a coat-of-arms and motto NON SIBI SED PATRIAE, marked on upper rim and base
24³⁄₄ in. (62.9 cm.) high
162 oz. 2 dwt. (5,041 gr.)

Presented to James Lewis III (1778 - 1847), by descent to his son,
Philip Lewis (1812 - 1886).
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 31 October 1991, lot 309.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 18 December 2007, lot 153.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie's Inc

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

In 1833, when the United Kingdom’s Houses of Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Bill intended to eradicate slavery throughout the British Empire, a fund was established to distribute £15 million, later expanded to £20 million, to slaveowners, mainly in or connected with the West Indies, as compensation for the act of emancipation. Managing this fund was the Slave Compensation Commission, composed of three non-salaried members, and three salaried members, one of whom was James Lewis III, who was most likely born in Jamaica in 1778. The Commission continued arbitrating slaveowners' claims for nine years, eventually processing 45,000 claims connected to 800,000 enslaved people. This ewer, bearing Lewis’ family arms, was presented to him at a meeting in the West India Committee Room, Bishopsgate Street, on 17 April, 1839 by a group of former slave-owning planters and merchants, in recognition of the 'impartial justice, accurate judgment & surpassing zeal, diligence and ability, applied by him to the arduous and intricate task' of his Commissioner role. Per Lewis' will, it passed to his second son, George, upon his death in 1847.