You may recall, a few months ago I was reeling from the fact that I missed out on a fantastic armourial, handpainted bowl that was being sold on Ebay. I have a tazza which had obviously been painted by the same artist, to commemorate the same occasion, but the price just went too high for my budget at that time. Well, another piece from the same commision (?), or at least, by the same artist, came up for sale so I dug a little deeper to secure it for my own collection. This fabulous plate, handpainted on an oriental ivory blank, has a crest, monogram (or joining of two initials) and a family motto, "Virtute non armis fido" which means something like "I trust in Virtue not arms". Well, on doing a bit of internet googling, ie. Wikipedia, I found that this is the family motto of Lord Gray de Wilton. Whether there is a connection to this historic family i can't say for sure. From what I can tell, 1882/83 was the year when one Earl died and another was created - so it could have been a commission for this event. Alternatively, it may be a commemorative piece for a wedding? What i find most intriguing on this piece, is the handpainted musical notes, A, and F, on the back which surely refer to someone's initials? Anyone got any thoughts on the matter, please do get in touch! particularly if you know something of the de Gray family.
You may recall, a few months ago I was reeling from the fact that I missed out on a fantastic armourial, handpainted bowl that was being sold on Ebay. I have a tazza which had obviously been painted by the same artist, to commemorate the same occasion, but the price just went too high for my budget at that time. Well, another piece from the same commision (?), or at least, by the same artist, came up for sale so I dug a little deeper to secure it for my own collection. This fabulous plate, handpainted on an oriental ivory blank, has a crest, monogram (or joining of two initials) and a family motto, "Virtute non armis fido" which means something like "I trust in Virtue not arms". Well, on doing a bit of internet googling, ie. Wikipedia, I found that this is the family motto of Lord Gray de Wilton. Whether there is a connection to this historic family i can't say for sure. From what I can tell, 1882/83 was the year when one Earl died and another was created - so it could have been a commission for this event. Alternatively, it may be a commemorative piece for a wedding? What i find most intriguing on this piece, is the handpainted musical notes, A, and F, on the back which surely refer to someone's initials? Anyone got any thoughts on the matter, please do get in touch! particularly if you know something of the de Gray family.
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