PAST EXHIBITIONS & DISPLAYS

Paul de Lamerie Silver

Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751) was the greatest silversmith working in England in the 18th century. A Huguenot, or French Protestant, he came to London as a small child with his parents, fleeing persecution in France. His success lay in his exceptional powers of invention and creation, but also in his ability as a businessman, retailing some astonishingly spectacular silverware from his own workshop and also using the best external suppliers in the trade.

The V&A has an outstanding collection of silver by de Lamerie and his contemporaries. You can download and print the trail below and bring it with you when you visit the V&A to help you find the highlights of the de Lamerie permanent collection across the galleries.

Download the Paul de Lamerie silver trail (PDF version, 409KB)
Download the Paul de Lamerie silver trail (Word version, 40KB)

Beyond the Maker's Mark: Paul de Lamerie Silver in the Cahn Collection, 6 November 2006 - 21 January 2007, was a display of de Lamerie silver in Gallery 117, overlooking the Grand Entrance at the V&A. On display were some of de Lamerie's masterpieces, loaned from the Cahn Collection, which set the standard for luxury and fine craftsmanship. It was divided into themes of dining, drinking, lighting & writing and display. Ornate coffee and (hot) chocolate pots, intricate sweetmeat baskets, magnificent candlesticks, and a turtle-shaped tureen were some of the highlights providing a fascinating insight into life in high society at the time.

View some of the highlights of de Lamerie's work from the V&A and Cahn collections.

The display was organised and circulated by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and made possible by the Cahn Family Foundation, with additional support from FedEx Corporation. Photographs of objects from the Cahn collection are courtesy of David Ulmer [and reproduced with kind permission of Mr and Mrs Paul Cahn].