This beautiful silver coffee pot is a fine example of the silverware created by the Huguenot refugees in Jersey

In 1685 Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had granted the Huguenots the freedom to practice their religion. There was a mass exodus from France and many hundreds found their way to Jersey and Guernsey. Amongst those new arrivals were many silversmiths possibly attracted by the ease of setting up in the Channel Islands.


The maker's mark identifying Pierre Amiraux's silverwork

Pierre Amiraux was a gifted silversmith who, along with many Huguenot silversmiths working in Jersey did much to elevate the quality and desirability of Jersey silver. As well as being a working silversmith with premises in Queen Street, Amiraux was also a Lieutenant in the Royal Jersey Militia, owner of a privateer, the Revenge, and town surveyor. The influence and number of the Huguenots in Jersey can be seen in the number of testaments from the 17th and 18th centuries. In many of the testaments the Huguenots refer to themselves as "refugees in Jersey because of religion".


Pierre Amiraux's testament shows his success as a silver maker in Jersey - he left the poor of St Helier 100 tournois and his wife and children hundreds of pounds in Sterling and some share interests.