Pepper grinder

Sir W. Goscombe John RA (1860 - 1952)

RA Collection: Art

From its founding years, an artist or architect elected to the Council of the Royal Academy of Arts was required to gift silver plateware, engraved with their name. This set of pepper grinders was gifted by painter Arthur Hacker RA in 1912.

Each pepper grinder bears the inscription: ‘PRESENTED·TO·THE·ROYAL·ACADEMY·OF·ARTS·BY·ARTHUR·HACKER·R·A·MCMXII·’ while around the rim is a reference to the designer of the works with the statement ‘Sir·W·Goscombe·John· R·A· Inve·nit·’

Sir William Goscombe John RA was a sculptor and fellow Academician. The silversmiths for the pepper grinders, D & J. Wellby Ltd. were based close by in Garrick Street, London.

The works are part of the RA’s Silver Collection of gifted plateware. Inscribed plateware used at academy dinners created a sense of history and connection to both past and present Council members. The convention to gift silver was not followed by all and both its presentation and usage gradually became less observed from the mid-20th century onwards.

In the photographs above, in a left to right placement are: 03/5815; 03/5816; 03/5817; 03/5818

Further reading:

P. Glanville, ‘Silver’, R.Simon and M.Stevens ed. The Royal Academy of Arts: History and Collections (New Haven and London 2018) pp.396-411.