A Large George IV silver sideboard dish by Joseph Angell II, 1828

This superb silver sideboard dish, replete with extensive and intricate figurative relief decoration, was made in 1828 by Joseph Angell II for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, and depicts the famous Battle of Issus, fought between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia in 333 B.C. The central panel, deepest at the top, shows a chaotic and writhing mass of cavalry and fallen soldiers, beneath a chariot which is being pursued by a single warrior on horseback, possibly Alexander himself. Depictions of the Battle of Issus, the most famous of which is the floor mosaic unearthed in Pompeii, became hugely popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, and it was the subject of a work by Jan Brueghel the Elder, which currently hangs in the Louvre.

The dish is a miraculous piece of silverwork; the embossing and chasing is exceptional, and the metal folds so dramatically that the horses at the front are sculpted virtually in the round. Various other battle and landscape scenes in cartouches decorate the border, and across the entire dish the metal ripples with such vitality and energy. It is a wonderful piece of late seventh century design, masterfully executed. 

This particular work is a direct replica of a piece in the Royal Collection Trust, purchased by George IV in 1828 from an unknown source. The original is possibly German, as it shares certain affinities with silverware from Augsburg, including the work of Johann Andreas Thelot; however, the historical inventories are not clear and it could also be Dutch. One of these replicas by Angell was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851, another was in the possession of Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland, however again, it is not clear which replica this one is nor how many originally existed. At some point it was presented to Her Majesty Queen Victoria by R & S Garrard & Co., as indicated by the label inside the case. It is fully hallmarked and stamped, and comes with the original case.