Ox Eye Cup - James Fraillon

[trevorg]

Hello,

I need your help on this recent acquisition, an ox eye (or college) cup by James Fraillon and assayed in 1720. The cup is 11 cms high and weighs 12 ozs.

My research indicates a possible attribution for the crest to the Duke of Bedford but this is based only on the 3 scallops in chief, I can find nothing that links this to the ermine and mullet in the lower part of the crest, of course it may also be that I fail to understand all of the heraldic terminology.

I have also found the the Duke of Bedford sponsored Huguenot silversmiths and James Fraillon was Huguenot, but any direct connection must at this point in time be purely speculative.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Trevor

[davidappleton]

There are a few possible attributions of this coat of arms, assuming that I am correct in believing that because of the size and placement of the mullet (the five-pointed star) is a cadency mark for a third son. Because the arms do not appear to be hatched, it is impossible without more information to be certain of the correct tinctures of the shield and its charges.

Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials gives the following:

Ermine on a chief gules three escallops argent. Bellew (co. Chester)
Ermine on a chief sable three escallops argent. Tayleur (Rodington and Buntingsdale, co. Salop)
Ermine on a chief sable three escallops or. Taylor
Erminois on a chief argent three escallops sable. King (Middlesex)

I hope that this information is helpful.

David

[trevorg]

Hello David,
Thank you for taking time out to research this and respond.
This type of vessel is generally associated with Oxford colleges where it is also known as a college pot and with this in mind (I also acquired it in Oxford) I looked at the crests of the various Oxford colleges and found Magdalen College bore a similarity being 3 lilies over an ermine shield (forgive my lack of heraldic terminology here). I then looked for crests that had the distinctive 3 escallops and found only the Duke of Bedford with this feature and also that both the 1st and 2nd Dukes matriculated from Magdalen College although the date for the 2nd Duke was 20 years earlier than the assay date of the item. And so putting two and two together I was coming up with five!
Thank you for the new lines to follow, I will see where they end up.
Regards,
Trevor

[trevorg]

Hello,
Just an update and to close out this post. Having researched the 4 possible attributions from David I am now of the opinion that the crest is for John Tayleur (b1708 - d1737) of Rodington, he was the third child of 4 (Sarah, Mary-Ann and William) of William Tayleur and his wife Dorothy née Mackworth. John Tayleur matriculated at Balliol College Oxford on 17th December 1725 aged 17.
His younger brother William (b1712 - d1796) matriculated at Christ Church college Oxford on 22nd June 1731 aged 19, he was awarded a BA in 1735 and became High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1744.
Regards,
Trevor

[dognose]

Hi Trevor,

Many thanks for updating the topic, it's appreciated.

Trev.