Peter Archambo I (1699–1759), in his time Peter Archambo, was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

silver- and goldsmith. He was the English-born son of the Huguenot refugee Archambault family from France. In 1710 he was apprenticed to the notable Huguenot goldsmith Jacob Margas (1677). The sons of Huguenot immigrants were often apprenticed to masters of Huguenot origin, benefitting from their master's manufacturing skill and design knowledge and thus were in a position to develop the ideas and designs brought by their masters from France. Huguenot silver is noted for its fine workmanship and design elements including strap work, cut card work, and cast and applied ornaments and decoration with elaborate engraving. Archambo's work is described as French in influence and he is credited with helping to introduce the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style into England (popular c. 1725 – c. 1765). After serving as apprentice for ten years to Jacob Margas he became a Freeman of the Butchers' Company on 7 December 1720 (rather than the Goldsmiths' Company, which was restricting entry to foreigners into their guild). He first registered his mark in London in 1721, his second mark in 1722 and his third mark in 1739 and is thought to have retired around 1750 and to have died c. 1759.Koopman Rare Fine Art
/ref> Archambo's work is characterised as in a more restrained manner than that of some of his contemporaries such as the extraordinarily complex silversmith

Paul de Lamerie Paul de Lamerie (9 April 1688 – 1 August 1751) was a London-based silversmith. The Victoria and Albert Museum describes him as the "greatest silversmith working in England in the 18th century". He was being referred to as the ‘King’s silv ...

, to whom his son, Peter Archambo (today distinguished as Peter Archambo II) was initially apprenticed. Archambo produced much fine quality domestic silver encompassing a wide range of objects, including cups, candlesticks, cream jugs and cake baskets. The wares often feature marine motifs such as shells and figures such as Neptune. In 1731 he produced the very fine hot water kettle with a circular body with a finely engraved contemporary armorial crest now part of the interpretative collection at The Johnston Collection in East Melbourne in Victoria. Shells and

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

adorn this elegant item which would have been a key requisite for entertaining in style. Other of his works in well known collections include the magnificent wine urn chased with masks, shells and strap-work, and its companion, a wine cistern commissioned by George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (1675–1758), which remain in the notable collection of silver at Dunham Massey Hall in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. The

Gilbert Collection The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection is a collection of ''objets d'art'' formed by the English-born businessman Sir Arthur Gilbert, who made most of his fortune in the property business in California. After initially becoming interested i ...

now at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London, has a neo-classical hot-water urn and a set of three exquisite caddies with finely engraved decoration. At the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

there are a pair of plain ewers dated 1740 and a pair of sauce boats dated 1733–1734.

Thomas Heming Heming is a British jewellery company, founded in London in 1745. The company has a showroom in the Piccadilly Arcade near to the original store on Piccadilly. History Heming's history dates to 1738 when Thomas Heming began his apprenticesh ...

was

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

d to Archambo from 1735 to 1745, and his work, distinctly French in character, shows signs of his master's influence. Heming was an influential and highly regarded goldsmith and from 1760 to 1782 he was appointed Principal Goldsmith to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He was responsible for many pieces of large and important silverware, including regalia and plate for the coronation of George III in 1761.

References

Further reading