An unexpected reflection: Paul de Lamerie, The Huguenot legacy and the grotesque in eighteenth-century English silve

While silver is customarily viewed as a decorative art form regulated by standardized styles, a closer look reveals that an innovative use of the grotesque was abundantly present in the eighteenth-century Huguenot silversmith's design vocabulary.;Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751), a Huguenot silversmith working in London, distinguished himself by embracing the "otherness" of his Huguenot heritage. Essentially unbound from a strict adherence to either French or English artistic traditions, Lamerie borrowed freely from an international array of both new and established design aesthetics. Lamerie utilized the language of the grotesque through the newly fashionable style of the French rococo, which he inventively merged with a unique blend of Northern European grotesque forms.;Paul de Lamerie fluidly rendered the real and imaginary in unlikely combinations that challenged established realities to respond to the English aristocracy's request for innovative silver pieces to display their wealth, social standing and changing dining habits.