A composite Spode porcelain dinner service, 19th century, comprising: a selection of table...

A composite Spode porcelain dinner service, 19th century, comprising: a selection of table wares, c.1820, iron red inscribed SPODE and decorated in pattern no. 1918 with moulded and painted floral bouquets and sprays, gilt rims, including two ice pails with socle bases, liners, and covers, the handles and finials naturalistically modelled and painted as tree branches, 27cm high; a two-handled shaped rectangular comport, 10.8cm high, 33cm long; two shaped circular dishes with moulded shell handles, 24cm long; a sauce boat with cover and stand, 10.5cm high, 24cm long; six hexagonal plates with moulded sections, 21.7cm diameter; and six shaped circular dinner plates, 24.8cm diameter; together with a further quantity of Copeland Spode with matched moulded and transfer-printed floral bouquets and foliage, printed and impressed marks, including a large shaped rectangular tureen and cover, the cover with gilt-highlighted rose finial and twin handles, 21.5cm high, 32.3cm long; a large octagonal platter, 47.3cm long; a small octagonal dish, 27cm long; a square deep footed bowl with canted corners, 10.7cm high, 21.9cm wide; sixteen shaped circular dinner plates, 26.5cm diameter; and ten shaped circular salad plates, 23.3cm diameter (lot)

Provenance: by repute, purchased by Malcolm Beazley at the sale of the contents of Wimbledon Lodge prior to its demolition in 1905, thence to Susan Beazley.  

Note: Part of this service may have been purchased by General Sir Henry Murray (1784-1860), a distinguished British Army officer who most famously led the 18th Hussars in Sir Hussey Vivian's final charge at the Battle of Waterloo. After his military career was over, Sir Henry resided at Wimbledon Lodge with his wife Emily and their five children; the house built for Emily's father Gerard de Vismé, a Huguenot nobleman. The house remained occupied until 1904 when Sir Henry's daughter Gertrude died at age 90, when it was subsequently demolished and the land sold for redevelopment. Little evidence of the lodge remains today, with the exception of a small crescent at the junction with Southside Common gives an impression of the original carriage drive, the adjacent road to the crescent being named Murray Road, and two stone lions which once flanked the front entrance to the lodge and were removed prior to its demolition, and now adorn the entrance to Stone Lion Veterinary Hospital on Wimbledon High Street.