Height 12¹/₄ in. Maker Patrick Robertson.
(Marks illustrated [p. 405].)
(At Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.)
The year 1746 is a notable one in Scottish history. In 1745 the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, dear to memory in Scotland, landed. “Charlie is my darlin’” was a forbidden tune at Balmoral as late as the reign of Victoria. The entry of the Prince into Edinburgh in 1745 resulted in the defeat of Sir John Cope, and the victorious army invaded England and reached Derby.
The year 1746 saw the Battle of Culloden and the defeat of the Pretender. Here is a caster of these romantic days, days that find expression in various romances—romances that are true to the life. Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was beheaded on Tower Hill for his duplicity. Many great Scottish families tried to sit on both sides of the fence. One son went to the Hanoverian forces and the other to the Stuart invader. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Master of Ballantrae shows the poignancy of the situation. But England held aloof in 1745. In 1715, when the elder Pretender essayed to claim his own, England was lukewarm, but in 1745 the House of Hanover had become deeply rooted and no leniency was shown to the invaders.
The Edinburgh coffee-pot (illustrated [p. 321]), in date 1769, is a delightful piece. It was made by Patrick Robertson; the marks are illustrated [p. 405]. This was in the early George III period. In this year was published the first of the “Letters of Junius,” an acrid attack on the Government in the Public Advertiser on behalf of John Wilkes, the demagogue. This year saw the birth of English Radicalism. Wilkes was elected as member for Middlesex for the fourth time, but Parliament declared his opponent, Colonel Luttrell, at the bottom of the poll, to be elected. The meaning of the motto “Wilkes and Liberty” is thus understood.
This coffee-pot of those days claims recognition by reason of its beauty of form. The spout with dragon head is graceful and original. The handle, in ebony, follows the broken curves of the period, the cone-top and the somewhat elongated foot and narrow base to the body proclaim the contemporary style.
The tea-urn of 1778 (illustrated [p. 325]), also made by Patrick Robertson, is marked with the castle of Edinburgh, the Thistle standard mark, the date letter Z, and the maker’s initials P. R. It is a beautiful piece in classic style, with fluted oviform body; it is decorated at summit and base with acanthus ornament. It has flat scroll handles with delicate beaded ornament. On tall fluted foot with bold spreading terminals, it stands on square base decorated with classic chasing. It is as classic as Princes Street, Edinburgh. It is delightfully Scottish, and represents the northern Athens as exemplified in the minor art of the silversmith. It is just prior to the days of Sir Walter Scott, the “Wizard of the North,” who has charmed Scot and southron alike by his magic spell.
