On August 24, 1814, following a victory at Bladensburg, Maryland, British forces captured the city of Washington, D.C., and set fire to the White House, the Capitol, the Treasury, and the Library of Congress. The burning was one of the final events of the War of 1812, a conflict which saw the U.S. try and fail to secure Canadian territory and Britain try and fail to blockade the U.S. It was a punitive mission near the end of the war.
Lewis Agassiz (1793-1866) of the Royal Marines led one of the firing parties into Washington, D.C. To reward his efforts in the battle and for reportedly being the first soldier to go forth and torch the White House, the Agassiz family was granted a coat of arms by the British Crown with a family crest depicting a flaming torch.
Although many of the White House documents, valuables, and pieces of artwork were rounded up by First Lady Dolley Madison in the days before the ransacking, many were left behind in the panic. Lewis Agassiz, seeing the table set for a dinner for more than 40 military and cabinet officers, helped himself to a George II coffeepot as a souvenir. That coffeepot, inscribed “Retrieved from / The President’s Palace / Aug 24th 1814 / 2nd Lieut / Lewis Agassiz / RM,” with a crest of a flaming torch, made by Elizabeth Godfrey in London in 1742, was sold together with a Victorian small silver tankard by John and Henry Lias with the same family crest of a flaming torch at John Rolfe Auctions in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in the U.K. on March 15 for £21,328 (includes buyer’s premium). In U.S. dollars the price was $27,612.
John Rolfe spent 20 years working up from an auction porter to head valuer and founded his own auction house in 2022. When he cataloged the coffeepot, he made sure prospective bidders knew that “it wasn’t unusual to see English hallmarked silver in distinguished homes in the U.S. during this period due to its superior quality. English silversmiths were more able to maintain consistent quality than their American counterparts, and as a result wealthy Americans imported English silver goods to the Colonies.”
He pointed out that the coffeepot is a rare survivor, noting, “Some observers allege that most of the spoils of war taken during the sack were lost when a convoy of British ships led by H.M.S. Fantome sank en route to Halifax off Prospect during a storm on the night of November 24, 1814, making the already special piece a very unusual survivor of the period.”
And to assure title he added, “‘Trophies’ from the event were allowed to remain with the respective families of soldiers due to the American Civil War-era Lieber Code that declared that items captured from an enemy in time of war can be kept. The law only applied to American forces, but other countries adopted similar regulations. Since then, several international laws prohibiting wartime looting have been created, but the original code also remains in effect.”
George II silver baluster coffeepot, inscribed “Retrieved from / The President’s Palace / Aug 24th 1814 / 2nd Lieut / Lewis Agassiz / RM,” with a crest of a flaming torch, made by Elizabeth Godfrey, London, 1742, 22 cm high, approximately 21 oz., together with a Victorian small silver tankard with same family crest of a flaming torch by John and Henry Lias, 8 cm high, approximately 4 oz., sold for £21,328 ($27,612 U.S.) at John Rolfe Auctions in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, U.K.
The coffeepot remained in the Agassiz family and was consigned along with the Victorian mug by a descendant of Lewis Agassiz. The maker, Elizabeth (or Eliza) Godfrey, active 1720-66, was a contemporary of the better-known Hester Bateman (English, 1708-1794). Trained by her father, the Huguenot silversmith Simon Pantin, Godfrey married twice, both times to silversmiths, first to Abraham Buteux in 1720 and after his death in 1731 to Benjamin Godfrey, who died in 1741. Then she carried on the business, advertising on her trade card as “Goldsmith, Silversmith, and Jeweller, [who] makes and sells all sorts of plates, jewels, and watches, in the newest taste at the most reasonable rates.”
The buyer of the coffeepot was American, according to Antiques Trade Gazette.
Originally published in the May 2025 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2025 Maine Antique Digest
