Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Scent flask and cover, yellow silver gilt, square baluster form, shallow moulded foot rim, the sides lobed in four curved panels, each ornamented in relief with a flower and foliage, divided by matted acanthus scrolls; shallow domed cover, formed in five panels, divided by matted acanthus scrolls, engraved with the arms of Williams-Wynn impaling Somerset, pendant from a ribbon bow, and within palm fronds, waisted neck, the swelling top ornamented with beaded acanthus below screw-thread sleeve for cover; shallow domed cover with ribbed rim and open loop finial.

This spectacular toilet service was given as a gift by Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn’s mother to her new daughter-in-law, Henrietta Somerset, in 1768. Silver toilet services, comprising a mirror, candlesticks and boxes for jewellery and patches, became a symbol of rank and high status from the 1660s. They were displayed on dressing tables with rich lace covers. Thomas Heming was principal goldsmith to the King, and this service is similar to the one he had made two years earlier for the Queen of Denmark.