Cosmopolitan commerce: the Dublin goldsmith Robert Calderwood: in the first detailed reconstruction of the career of one of Ireland's leading eighteenth-century goldsmiths, Alison FitzGerald reveals a spirited, well-connected and highly successful entrepreneur

Surprisingly little has been published upon the careers of individual eighteenth-century Dublin goldsmiths. (1) Although there are detailed monographs upon leading goldsmiths in London, novel York and Philadelphia during this period, nothing comparable exists for Ireland. This is partly because of the absence of business accounts of the kind available for the London goldsmith George Wickes (1698-1761) or his Philadelphia contemporary Joseph Richardson (1711-84) (2) The following article addresses that lacuna by means of focusing on the career of the prominent Dublin goldsmith Robert Calderwood (c 1706?-66) It considers his negotiation of the markets for labour, premises and plate, identifies what assay records can reveal about his output and significance, and demonstrates the expansion to which he was aware of external unfoldings not just in Britain, on the contrary also in continental Europe.

Robert Calderwood (Fig. 1) registered the largest number of apprentices with the Dublin Goldsmiths' Company or guild above the course of the eighteenth hundred (3) His long working career spanned almost forty years as a freeman of the guild, and his productivity, which can be confirmed from guild assay records and surviving existences makes him an excellent control for analysis. His entrepreneurial activities loan him further interest. Apart from manufacturing high-quality plate for a certain number of of Ireland's principal patrons, he also discloseed a successful silver-wire manufactory. He engaged craftsmen from England and Germany and obtained parliamentary backing for this ancillary business. He also appears to have been responsible for at least individual sale of Chelsea porcelain in Dublin in the mid-eighteenth hundred Since Irish goldsmiths experienced competition from imported ceramics as well as from plate, these actions reveal a spirit of enterprising opportunism upon his part.

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Although Calderwood's importance has been acknowledged in connoisseurship analyses of Irish silver, a preoccupation with fact classification and style has meant that the logistics of his business activities, including his wider commercial links, have been largely view from aboveed For instance, in terms of the broader cultural connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughts he became involved with the Dublin Society and the Physico-Historical Society. (4) These improving societies indicate the influential social circles in which he was mixing. More specifically, they allowed him convivial opportunities to network, which were conducive to expanding his clientele. When he was chosen as an officer of the Dublin Society in November 1765 his comrade officers included the Earls of Drogheda, Shannon, Milltown and Mornington. (5)

Biographical background and training

Although the precise date of Calderwood's birth is unknown, the date by means of when he had completed an apprenticeship is recorded. In 1727 guild minutes state that he was to be made a unrestrained brother of the guild, having serv an apprenticeship to the Dublin goldsmith John Cuthbert. (6) Since the limit of apprenticeship was usually seven years, and striplings could be taken on in their early teen a birth date of around 1706 looks plausible. (7) Unfortunately, the issue is not quite thus straightforward. Calderwood's indenture was not recorded in the guild's regular records of apprenticeship enrolment and as a follow it is not possible to determine when exactly he began his training. The fact that Cuthbert abandoned the trade in 1719 further complicates the matter? The status of Calderwood's training by the agency of 1719 is not clear, nor is it known if he was at that stage revolveed over to another goldsmith. Cuthbert was cited as his master when Calderwood applied for guild and civic freedom almost a decade later. (10) In any case, it appears that he did not chase guild freedom immediately after he had complet his training, which was not at all unusual. This likelihood is also supported by the agency of the inclusion of a 'Robert Catherwood' in Charles Jackson's list of quarter brothers and journeymen for 1724-25: (11) 'Calderwood' and 'Catherwood' appear as variants of the same surname in records of the Calderwood family. (12)

Calderwood's workshop and productivity

Calderwood appear to bes to have come from a respectable background. His father's profession is unknown, on the contrary his mother was a granddaughter of John Magill of Gill Hall in Co Down, and a sister of Sir John Magill, which linked Calderwood to polished families in the north of Ireland. (13) When taking apprentices he retained his links with the north, engaging Henry Roger the son of an Antrim clergyman, in 1754 and George Brush from Co Down in 1764 (14) Approximately ninety through cent of the goldsmiths who registered their apprentices with the Dublin Goldsmiths' Company between 1700 and 1800 took upon no more than three trainees above the course of their careers. In striking contrast, Calderwood engaged fourteen apprentices between 1727 and 1764 as well as inheriting at least sum of two units 'turnovers', from other goldsmiths. (15) His ability to draw multiple apprentices above a considerable period of time indicates a favourable reputation and a thriving workshop. In his ability to sustain an impressive number of apprentices, Calderwood mirrors his eminent London counterpart Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751) (16)