PAUL STORR. Am important & exceptionally rare George III Toasting Cheese Dish made in London in 1817 by Paul Storr.

The Dish is broad rectangular in form and stands on four bun feet.  The rim is decorated with gadrooning, interspersed with Rococo shells, flanked by acanthus foliage.  The domed, cushion shaped, cover is decorated with a band of wide lobing and reeding and terminates in a detachable reed and crossed branch finial.  The front of the cover is engraved with a contemporary Armorial with supporters and Coronet above and Motto below.  The cover can be held open with a chain, which is attached to the handle and finial.  Once open the interior reveals a removable tray, where the toasted cheese would have been placed.  The turned fruitwood carrying handle unscrews so that an interior hot water compartment can be filled to keep the toasted cheese hot.  This piece is in excellent condition and is a very rare piece to find coming from the workshops of Paul Storr, the greatest of all British silversmiths.  The Cheese Dish is in excellent condition.  This piece is most unusual, as once the tray is taken out it is deep enough, with the domed cover, to be used as a heated breakfast dish.  

The Arms, Crest and Motto are those of Henry Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk, before he ascended the title and when he was styled as Earl of Surrey, from 1815-1842.  On 4th May, 1829, Henry Howard was elected to the House of Commons for Horsham, a seat he held until 1832.  He was the first Roman Catholic to sit in the House, after Catholic emancipation.  He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1837 and served under Lord Melbourne as Treasurer of the Household 1837-1841.  He ascended the Dukedom in 1842 and was made Master of the Horse, under Lord John Russell, in 1846, a position he held until the government fell in 1852.  He was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1848.  In 1814 Norfolk married Lady Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower, daughter of George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland,  and they had five children.  The Duke died in 1856 and was succeeded in the Dukedom by his eldest son Henry.  The Duchess died in 1870.  Their seat was the magnificent Arundel Castle in Sussex, an image of which is attached.

Among the innovations of the last quarter of the Eighteenth Century were specialised dishes for melting cheese on toast.  The cheese toaster is equipped with a base hot water jacket which can filled from the handle.  Squares of toasted bread were thereby kept warm while the cheese layered on top melted and bubbled by the heat of an open fire.  The cover was raised at an angle and secured with a silver chain affixed to a ring on the finial and hooked to another ring at the rear.  The reflective interior of the cover aided the process of melting and toasting the cheese.

Cheese Toasters are extremely rare, however this is the first time we have seen one coming from the Storr workshops. It was formerly contained within the famous Lillian & Morrie Moss Collection of Paul Storr Silver.  It is illustrated in the catalogue of the collection, Miami 1972, page 186, Plate 127. This piece is very well marked on the base, tray, cover and finial.

Length: 11 inches, 27.5 cm.

Width: 8 inches, 20 cm.

Height: 5.5 inches, 13.75 cm

Weight: 82oz.