Harache family
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The Harache family of Huguenot goldsmiths, many of whom came to London from France towards the end of the 17th century to avoid persecution, were responsible for some of this country’s most important silver of the time. The family was active in the production of silver plate here for about a hundred years.
It appears that the first member of the Harache family to respond to the persecution of Protestants in France and to make the journey to London was Nicolas who came with his wife Marie Mascrier and their daughter Marie somewhen between August 1667 and November 1668. Their son Thomas was born in London in 1668 and his name appears in the baptismal list for Threadneedle Street church dated 29th November. No record has so far been discovered either in Rouen or in London that Nicolas was a master goldsmith and there is no record of his work here or where he and his family lived although the church at which his son was baptised indicates that he had taken up residence in the general area later occupied by the members of the family who followed him to England. There appear to be no burial records at this early date but it must be assumed that Nicolas died in late 1776 or early 1777 because in the latter year Marie returned to Rouen where she remarried on 28th October 1677. Her new husband was Jean Lefebvre who appears not to be directly related to the Lefebvre family some of whose members later were apprenticed to Peter Harache. Eleven years later, in 1688, Marie made the return trip to London bringing her husband and family with her and the records of Threadneedle Street church show that on 20th May 1688 ‘Marie Masserier wife of Jean Lefévre of Rouen, Jean Lefévre of Rouen, Thomas Harache of Rouen and Marie Harache of Rouen’ all ‘presented themselves to make reconnaissance’ at ‘The French church of London’.
Next to arrive was Madeleinne Harache who was married to a Parisian goldsmith named Edouard Hobbema and they came in 1675. The most famous member of the family was Madeleinne’s brother Pierre Harache (the elder) who was born in Rouen in northern France in 1639 and was baptised at Quevilly, the principal Huguenot church of the city, on 25th September. He arrived in England in October 1681 and appears together with his wife Anne in the denization list dated 26th June 1682. He was made free of the Goldsmiths’ Company on 21st July 1682 and took Simon Pantin as his apprentice in 1686. Although a Sterling mark has been attributed to him dating from his Freedom, the only certain mark recorded for him was entered at Goldsmiths’ Hall as a largeworker (producing candlesticks and hollowware) in 1697 when he gave his address as ‘Suffolk Street near Chairing (sic) Cross’ where he remained until his death in 1712. Although there is no record showing that Pierre Harache (the elder) was ever in receipt of Royal Bounty it is not clear whether he continued to fulfil commissions until his death. At least one piece has been identified however bearing his mark and dated 1705.
Pierre Harache’s work is of the highest standard in both design and execution. He used cut card work and applied decoration as well as engraving much of which has been attributed to Blaise Gentot (1658-1700). He enjoyed the patronage of the greatest clients of the day and was rivalled only by his fellow Huguenot David Willaume.
Although not common it was not unknown for women in the Harache family to be practicing goldsmiths in their own right so that Heal’s reference to “Mrs. Harache, silversmith, corner of Great Suffolk Street, 1699” may well have been correct since Pierre’s wife Anne appears in the denization list of 1682 giving her the right to trade in her own name. This would explain the reference to Madame Anne Harache supplying a Monsieur Grandmaison with a pair of silver candlesticks in Paris in 1668 and a similar reference to Mrs. Ann Harache supplying a silver plate weighing 172 oz to the Duke of Somerset in 1690.
The next member of the family to arrive in England was Jeremy Harache who was here by 16th September 1683. He was born in Rouen in 1654 and was baptized at Quevilly on 26th May. Neither his mark nor examples of his work have, as yet, been identified and he returned to France in 1697 where he died before 1702.
Jeremy was followed in 1686 by his brothers Pierre Harache (junior) and Abraham. Pierre Harache (junior) was baptised at Quevilly 11th April 1653 and was only distantly related to Pierre Harache (the elder). He was endenizened 29th September 1698, possibly having worked as a journeyman for his namesake until then, and was made free of the Goldsmiths’ Company 24th October 1698. He entered three marks at Goldsmiths’ Hall as a largeworker 25th October 1698 giving his address as Compton Street. In1703 he took Jacques des Rumeaux as his apprentice but was in receipt of Royal Bounty between 1714 and 1717, when he returned to France, giving his address at that time as Grafton Street. He died in France in1718.
Following the recent discovery of the date of death of Pierre Harache (the elder) and a reassessment of the marks of both Pierres, many important works previously attributed to the younger man have been reattributed to the elder, including the wine cistern of 1704 belonging to the Worshipful Company of Barber-Surgeons in London and the Methuen Dish of 1703 at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Abraham Harache was born in 1661 and was baptized at Quevilly on 9th October. He, like his brother, was a master goldsmith by the time he arrived in London although he appears to have been a smallworker (producing mostly spoons and snuff boxes). He was here by 22nd August 1686 but was not endenizened until March 1700 and there is no record of his mark although it has been tentatively identified. He too lived at Compton Street on his arrival in this country but moved to St. Giles in Great St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials in 1708. He died in 1722 and was buried at St. James’s Paddington.
The fourth member of this branch of the family to come to London was Jean Harache who was born in 1655 and baptized at Quevilly on 30th May. He was in England by 16th December 1687. There is no mark recorded for him at that date although the mark registered by his son Jean Harache II in 1726 appears on smallwork of the late 17th century. His address is given as Riders Court where he remained until his death in 1734. He was in receipt of Royal Bounty from 1722.
Francis Harache was born in 1710, the son of Abraham Harache, and apprenticed to Isaac Cabane, silversmith of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in 1725. On completion of his apprenticeship he took his brother Thomas as his apprentice. He was a smallworker and on entering his mark at Goldsmiths’ Hall in 1738 he gave his address as “ye Seven Dyals in great St. Andrew Street att ye blackmoors head St. Giles”. He had a prodigious output and his second mark is believed to be the FH crowned mark that appears on a great deal of smallwork but would have been recorded in the register for smallworkers covering the period May 1739 to July 1758 which is no longer extant.
Thomas Harache was born in 1717, the son of Abraham Harache, and apprenticed to his brother Francis in 1732. On completion of his apprenticeship in 1741 he set up on his own in St. Martins Lane where he remained until 1750. He took apprentices John Jacobs in 1743 and William Danser in 1744 describing himself variously as Silversmith and Snuff box maker. His mark would have been recorded at Goldsmiths’ Hall but would have been in the missing register. On moving to Pall Mall in 1751, he would have registered a second mark and was calling himself a Goldworker at this time. Neither mark has so far been identified. He retired in 1778 at which time he was calling himself a Jeweller, Goldsmith and Toyman. He died, a fairly wealthy man, in 1785.
Jean Harache II was born in 1698, the son of Jean Harache, and the likelihood is that he was apprenticed to his father although no record of this has, as yet, been found. He was describing himself as a jeweler when he gave testimony in a Chancery case in 1722 and he too gave his address as Riders Court at that time having been there ‘near 25 years’. The mark recorded in the smallworkers’ register at Goldsmiths’ Hall in 1726 against the name Jean Harache, though appearing on plate of the late 17th century and thus that of Jean (I), must have been that of Jean (II) at this date.
[1] For more information, contact The Silver Society in London
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