Fairfax Silver Gilt Cup and Cover

Acquisition of a Queen Anne silver-gilt Cup and Cover, maker's mark of Benjamin Pyne overstruck by that of henry Lyon, London 1705. On spreading foot, the girdled bell-shaped body engraved on one side with a coat of arms (Farifax Family) within a foliate and husk cartouche and on the other with the crowned monogram of Queen Anne and a Latin inscription within a similar border of scrolled leafage, cast caryatid handles, the detachable cover engraved with a crest and motto below and applied coil serpent finial. The cup was presented by Queen Anne to Captain robert Fairfax in grateful appreciation for his part in the capture of Bigraltar. A Latin inscription on the reverse beneath the crowned Queen's monogram reads: 'Ob expugnatum Gibraltaris propugnaculum et Gallicum mari Mediterraneo Classem 13, die Aug. salutis 1704 fortiter oppugnatuam regale Aannæ Reginæ Donum Robert Fairfax Armigero.' Admiral Robert Fairfax was teh most eminent figure of teh Fairfaxes of Steeton, one of the three branches of the Fairfax family and distantly related to teh Fairfaxes of Gilling, owner of Fairfax House. After retiring from the navy, he turned to politics, becoming MP for York and Lord Mayor of the City in 1725.