Lot 493: A PAIR OF VICTORIAN SILVER ENTREE-DISHES AND COVERS

A PAIR OF VICTORIAN SILVER ENTREE-DISHES AND COVERS
MARK OF EDWARD, EDWARD, JOHN AND WILLIAM BARNARD, LONDON, 1841
Each oblong with scrolling foliage and flowerhead cast rims, the domed covers similarly cast and with scrolling foliage loop handles, applied on one side with a coat-of-arms and engraved on the other with an inscription, each marked on ends and on handles
9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) high
144 oz. (4,475 gr.)
The inscription reads 'Presented to Edward Baines Esqυrυe by his fellow Townsmen in admiration of the integrity, zeal and ability with which he advocated the principles of civil and religious liberty during a public life of more then forty years and to evince their gratitude for his important services as their faithful and indefatigable representative of the Borough of Leeds in three Successive Parliaments Leeds November MDCCCXLI'

The arms are those of Baines, for Edward Baines (1774-1848). Baines was elected as Whig M.P. for Leeds in 1834, 1835 and 1837. In 1801 he had bought the Leeds Mercury newspaper and turned a failing publication into the largest newspaper in the city. He was a liberal minded reformer and historian. (2)

E. Baines, The Life of Edward Baines, late M.P. for the Borough of Leeds, London, 1851, pp. 278-279.
D. Thornton, Mr Mercury: The Life of Edward Baines 1774-1848, Chesterfield, 2009, p. 254.

Presented to Edward Baines (1774-1848), M.P. for Leeds on his retirement together with a centrepiece ornamented with the figures of Truth, Liberty and Justice.

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