A Louis XV French silver-gilt oil and vinegar stand

A Louis XV French silver-gilt oil and vinegar stand,

marks worn, maker's mark C?, Paris, possibly 1748,

oval form, with pierced scroll bottle holders, the body decorated with snakes and mythical fighting creatures, with a central foliate scroll stopper holder, the scroll handles engraved with armorials, on four mythical mask capped pierced scroll bracket feet, with two 19th century silver-gilt mounted inkwells, with reeded borders and with the oil and vinegar bottle covers, engraved with a French Royal crown, in a later fitted velvet case, with a plaque 'H.M.S. Cavendish Launched 12th April 1944', length 29cm, approx. weight 34.5oz.

HMS Cavendish was a C-class destroyer ordered in February 1942 from John Brown of Clydebank. She joined the home fleet and served in the North Atlantic and off Norway. In 1955 she was modernised and served with the Far Eastern Fleet in Singapore before her return to Portsmouth in 1964, and was laid up.

Mary Duchess of Buccleuch launched HMS Cavendish in April 1944 at Clydebank.

In the relevant page from her 1944 photograph album showing the ship and herself at the launch, she has written 'am given beautiful vermeil 17th cen inkstand by John Brown's, though we have always thought it was 18th century.'

Provenance: Mary Duchess of Buccleuch, then via direct descent to the present owner.