Spirit Flask thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 65, The Whiteley Galleries

Spirit Flask

1690 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This silver spirit flask was the personal property and bears the arms of Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), the elder illegitimate son of Charles II by his mistress, the actress Nell Gwyn. When Nell Gwyn was rebuked by Charles for referring to their six year old son as a bastard, she replied: "Your majesty has given me no other name by which to call him.". In consequence, the King gave him the name Beauclerk and created him Baron Heddington and Earl of Burford. Subsequently, on 10 January 1684, he was created Duke of St Albans. He was married on 17 April 1694 to Diana, second daughter and eventually sole heiress of Aubrey, 20th and last Duke of Oxford. He died around 10 May 1726 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The flask is engraved with scrolling foliage in the style of the artist Blaise Gentot and is ingeniously constructed with a removable base serving as a cup and a top which can be inverted and used to unscrew the internal stopper.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Spirit Flask
  • Lid
Materials and techniques
Silver, raised, cast, engraved and chased
Brief description
Silver, England (probably London), unmarked, ca. 1690.
Physical description
Oval spirit flask with removable cup base, plain silver neck and cover with bobbin finial. Of flattened ovoid form engraved on one side with the letters 'SA', the monogram of Charles, First Duke of St Albans in a cartouche surmounted by a ducal coronet and framed with engraved olive branches and laurel leaves; the other side engraved with a coat of arms, supporters and coronet. The rest of the body is covered with scrolling acanthus leaves. The base is formed as a detachable beaker with gilt interior. The flask has an internal stopper which is operated by removing the lid of the flask, inverting it and using the finial which is cut with a thread to unscrew the stopper.
Dimensions
  • Height: 13.7cm
  • Weight: 214g
6oz 18dwt
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • On one side, the arms of Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans: quarterly, 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; over all a sinister baton gules charged with three roses argent seeded and barbed proper. The arms surmounted by a ducal coronet and supported dexter by an antelope and, sinister, a greyhound.
  • On one side: the monogram of Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans: a double 'S' and a double 'A' entwined (for 'Saint Albans'), and surmounted by a ducal coronet.
Credit line
Presented by the Friends of the V&A
Object history
The arms and monogram engraved on either side of this flask indicate it was made for Charles Beauclerk, Baron Heddington, Earl of Burford and first Duke of St Albans. Beauclerk, born around 8th May 1670, was the eldest of two illegitimate sons of Charles II by his mistress, the actress Nell Gwyn. An eighteenth-century account of English history explains that Beauclerk received his titles because the King once heard Nell Gwyn call to the child, 'Come hither, you little bastard'. Rebuked by the King, she apparently replied: 'Your majesty has given me no other name by which I may call him'. In December 1676, Charles II gave the six-year old child the name of Beauclerk and made him baron Heddington and earl of Burford. On 10 January 1684 he was created duke of St Albans (see Hunt: 2008; The Complete Peerage (2000), vol. 5).

Around 1690, when this flask was made, Beauclerk was soon to take his seat in the House of Lords (1691) and embark on military campaigns in Flanders (1693), fighting for the protestant cause of William of Orange (who had recently siezed the English throne [1688-89] to become William III of England). It may be the flask accompanied Beauclerk on campaign, not simply as a practical object but as an accoutrement appropriate to his noble status. Beauclerk, who aged 34 apparently bore a striking resemblance to his namesake Charles II, married Diana, daughter of the last Earl of Oxford in 1694, thereby consolidating his position. He enjoyed the favour of successive monarchs throughout his lifetime and died around 10 May 1726.

Historical significance: Late-seventeenth-century examples of travelling flasks to hold spirits are rare, and this example is particularly interesting both for its construction and ownership. Apart from its detachable base to form a cup, the outer stopper of the flask, when removed, is designed to unscrew the inner stopper.
Historical context
At a time when drinking was a highly social activity, and cups could still be shared, this flask, with its detachable lower half for use as a cup, is designed for individual use. It is an elegant and expensive alternative to the larger leather bottles used by the poorer classes to transport ale or wine (Shirley: 2007, p.92; Heywood: 1635, cited in Brown: 1996, pp.64-5). Small flasks to hold distilled spirits were useful travelling accoutrements during a period when water was unsafe to drink and wine, ale and beer spoiled quickly. Spirits were also considered to have medicinal properties and were often flavoured. An eighteenth-century collection of household recipes provides four recipes for flavoured brandy, including 'carraway brandy', described as 'a good cordial' (Smith: 1790, p.264). According the the Oxford English Dictionary, the term 'spirit flask' appears to have been coined in 1829 and it is more likely that Charles Beauclerk would have referred to his flask according to the type of spirit it held. The records of the Wakelin silver workshop for 1758 and 1771 refer to 'brandy flasks' supplied to customers (Clayton: 1985, p.190).
The unusually early date of this example, around 1690, may reflect the growing popularity of spirit-drinking in England. During the1690s, the price of spirits (particularly gin) fell below that of the traditional English drink, beer, thanks to financial incentives initiated by the Crown. William of Orange, at war with France and anxious to deprive his rival Louis XIV of revenue, banned imports of French brandy and further encouraged the fledgling English distilling industry by increasing tax on beer (Brown: 1996, p.18; Clayton: 1985, p.190).

A comparable example was included in the Ballyedmond Collection, Sotheby's 23-24 May 2017 lot 239 marked by Huguenot goldsmith Pierre Harache and engraved with the coat of arms of Pakington for Sir John Pakington (1671-1727) MP for Worcestershire. For a similar flask with detachable beaker base see Sotheby's 4 July 1989 lot 247.
Summary
This silver spirit flask was the personal property and bears the arms of Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), the elder illegitimate son of Charles II by his mistress, the actress Nell Gwyn. When Nell Gwyn was rebuked by Charles for referring to their six year old son as a bastard, she replied: "Your majesty has given me no other name by which to call him.". In consequence, the King gave him the name Beauclerk and created him Baron Heddington and Earl of Burford. Subsequently, on 10 January 1684, he was created Duke of St Albans. He was married on 17 April 1694 to Diana, second daughter and eventually sole heiress of Aubrey, 20th and last Duke of Oxford. He died around 10 May 1726 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The flask is engraved with scrolling foliage in the style of the artist Blaise Gentot and is ingeniously constructed with a removable base serving as a cup and a top which can be inverted and used to unscrew the internal stopper.
Bibliographic references
  • Burke, Bernard. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. London: Harrison, 1878).
  • Clayton, Michael. The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, 2nd edn. Woodbridge (Suffolk): Antique Collectors' Club, 1985.
  • Hunt, William. ‘Beauclerk, Charles, first duke of St Albans (1670 – 1726)', rev. Jonathan Spain, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.
  • Cokayne, George E., The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom: extant, extinct or dormant, 13 vols in 6. London: G. Bell & Sons, 1887-1898; new edition, revised and much enlarged, Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1982, this edn repr. 2000), vol. 5, ISBN 0904387828.
  • Shirley, Pippa. On the Move: hunting and travelling. In: Philippa Glanville and Sophie Lee, eds The Art of Drinking. London: V&A Publications, 2007. pp.92-95. ISBN: 9781851775101.
  • Brown, Peter B. and Martha H. Schwartz. Come Drink the Bowl Dry: Alcoholic Liquors and Their Place in 18th Century Society. York: YorkCivic Trust, 1996. Catalogue of an exhibition held at Fairfax House, York, 1st September - 20th November 1996. ISBN 0948939109
  • Smith, E. The compleat housewife, or, Accomplish'd gentlewoman's companion: being a collection of upwards of six hundred of the most approved receipts in cookery. Facs. repr. of 15th - 18th edns; London: Literary Services and Production Limited, 1968. ISBN 0853210012.
  • Oxford English Dictionary, entry for 'spirit, n.': Second edition, 1989; online version March 2011: http://web.archive.org/web/20230111164220/https://public.oed.com/oederror404/
  • The compleat imbiber: a centenary exhibition of drinking through the centuries. London: W. &. A. Gilbey, Ltd, 1957. Catalogue of an exhibition presented by W. & A. Gilbey, Ltd. at the Café Royal, London, 21st May-7th June, 1957.
  • Philippa Glanville and Sophie Lee, eds., The Art of Drinking, V&A Publications, London, 2007, p. 95
Collection
Accession number
M.10:1, 2-2001

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2002
Record URL
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