Peter Archambo
English, active 1721 - 1767
English goldsmith. He was the son of Peter Archambo, a Huguenot refugee who worked in London as a staymaker. In 1710 he was apprenticed to the goldsmith Jacob Margas (c. 1685–after 1730) and, like Margas, became a freeman of the Butchers’ Company (rather than the Goldsmiths’ Company) on 7 December 1720. He first registered his mark at Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, in 1721, when he gave his address as the Golden Cup in Green Street. One of his apprentices was Thomas Heming. He produced fine quality domestic silver, and a wide range of objects, including cups, candlesticks, cream jugs and cake baskets, bearing his mark survives. His work is French in influence, and he is often credited with helping to introduce the Rococo style into England. His approach to the Rococo was, however, more restrained than that of some of his contemporaries, for example Paul de Lamerie. His work also often incorporates marine motifs. His most important patron was George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (1675–1758), who commissioned such pieces as a wine-urn (1728; London, Goldsmiths’ Co.), chased with masks, shells and strapwork, a wine-cistern (1729; Dunham Massey, Ches, NT) and six sconces (1730). Other surviving works are a hot-water urn and a set of three caddies (Los Angeles, CA, Gilbert priv. col., on loan to Co. Mus. A.) and a plain ewer (New York, Met.). It is thought that Archambo retired around 1750, as very little silver bearing his mark is extant after that date.
Emma Packer. "Archambo, Peter." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T003728 (accessed April 27, 2012).
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