A rare and interesting Dutch silver matchbox holder (or cover), a memento of the destruction of the Ypres Cloth Hall (Lakenhal) during the Great War (World War I), imported and retailed by Harrod's of London. The box is embossed with a detailed image of the Great Cloth Hall in Ypres, before it's destruction during the war. The box reads "YPRES LES HALLES 1914". The gauge of silver is quite thin, and the box has been well used and damaged, 3 of the connecting arms have been repaired. The box is Dutch, and has clear Dutch hallmarks G for 1916, and makers mark VS for Vos & Co of Haarlem, Hertogenbosch. The box also has clear London import marks for 1916, and importers mark RB for Richard Burbridge, who was Managing Director of Harrods from 1911 to 1917. The Cloth Hall was first built in 1304, site of the Les Halles Market, and centre to the town of Ypres (Ieper). It was the site of many major battles during the War, first sustaining damage in 1914 but being completely destroyed by 1918. It was rebuilt between 19...

An antique Dutch silver vinaigrette (zilveren lodereindoosje) in the form of an armoire (kabinet). These have also been described as pomanders, scent boxes, and also incorrectly described as snuff boxes and peppermint boxes. The box is rectangular in shape, with an engraved armoire, complete with drawers, it also has a pierced rim on the lid. The back is decorated with an engraved flower, while the base, sides and lid have engraved wrigglework decoration. The lid is clearly hallmarked with maker mark IS under star (makers mark 10121 in the book "Netherlands Responsibility Marks since 1797") for Johannes Jacobus Smits, who worked in Schoonhoven between 1823 and 1824. The lid also has a very clear date letter O for 1823. The rim of the box also has makers mark and Minerva head office mark (duty mark). Loderein comes from the French "l'eau de reine" translated "water of the king", as only the wealthy could afford the perfumed cologne.

An antique silver miniature furniture cabinet, in 18th century style, made in Hanau by Simon Rosenau and imported into London by David Bridge in 1892. The cabinet has lovely detail, the hinged doors and 2 drawers are in full working order. The cabinet doors and sides are decorated with farming scenes, a woman collecting water, raking and carrying a tray, and a man with basket full of produce. Scrolls complete the design, the cabinet stands on 4 S shaped feet, the drawers have ring pulls and the door has a handle. The base of the cabinet and base of largest drawer have Hanau hallmarks, a clear SR under crown makers mark, clear 930 standard mark (so slightly purer than sterling 925), less clear German moon and crown mark, and a 4th indistinct mark. The back of the cabinet has very clear London import marks for 1892 and Importers mark DB for David Bridge. Simon Rosenau worked in Bad Kissingen from 1862-1932, he supplied antiques to the Royal Bavarian court. His son took over the business in the 1890's, he was d...

A lovely set of 6 Cape silver teaspoons in the Fiddle pattern, in excellent condition and with very clear hallmarks. The spoons are clearly hand made, you can see very slight differences in the shape and size of the Fiddle and bowl shape when comparing closely. The spoons are good quality and a good weight, just under 20 grammes each. The spoons have no engraving with no initials removed, completely original. All 6 spoons are clearly hallmarked with 4 pseudo hallmarks, all struck individually in the same order - pseudo duty mark, bird, pseudo Edinburgh Castle town mark and pseudo date letter B. This is mark 134 in the book "Cape Silver and Silversmiths" by Stephan Welz, without makers mark - but clearly Twentyman as he was the only Cape silversmith who used these punches. Twentyman was the most prolific of all Cape silversmiths, he had the first shop on Heerengracht (now Adderley Street) with a shop window. He worked between 1818 and 1837. We really like these spoons.

A W.R.N.S. (Women's Royal Naval Service) 9 carat gold and enamel Sweetheart brooch, probably dating back to WW II. The brooch has lovely detail, with 2 tones of gold, the W.R.N.S. badge of a bird (wren) sitting on an anchor behind the naval crown, above W.R.N.S. scroll in blue enamel. This is mounted on a 9 carat gold bar brooch, with gold pin and locking clasp, often these pins are not gold. The bar is clearly hallmarked 9CT for 9 carat gold. The W.R.N.S. (popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the Women's branch of the Royal Navy, served as cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics, in 1944 they had 75000 service women.

A fabulous sterling silver basting spoon (gravy or serving spoon) in the popular Fiddle, Thread and Shell pattern, with engraved Marais Family coat of arms, which is very clear. The basting spoon is a substantial size and weight, the quality is excellent. The hallmarks are very clear, including makers mark D&J W, for Daniel & John Wellby, who worked between 1827 and 1974 from Garrick Street, London. The Marais family coat of arms is described as "Azure, a chain sable fesswise, in chief a crescent reversed and a base of two hills vert" - Pama, Heraldry of South African Families, page 53, depicted on Plate 18, no 280, of the Bell Krynauw Collection. It dates back to Charles Marais of the farm Plasir de Merle, who arrived in the Cape in 1688, and was "murdered by a Hottentot on the farm in 1689". Note - we have other matching items with the Marais Family armorial.

A set of six Cape silver teaspoons in the Fiddle pattern, by Daniel Beets. All 6 spoons have original owners engraved initials JMB. All 6 teaspoons are clearly hallmarked in the same way, with makers mark DB struck twice, alternating with a pseudo Lion passant standard mark, also struck twice. This is a rare combination of marks, not recorded in Cape Silver by Welz, where he shows Beets with star and circular devices, but not with the lion passant punch. Heller shows a Beets mark interspersed with pseudo kings head duty marks, also not shown in Welz, which shows Beets dis also occasionally use pseudo punches. Daniel Beets worked between 1812 and 1828, he was the illegitimate son of German Balthus Beets and Cape slave Angana. His son, also Daniel Beets, also practised as a silversmith, but as he probaly used his fathers punches, no marks are recorded for him. We postulate these could possibly be Daniel Beets Junior, sharing pseudo punches with fellow silversmiths, a practice that is known to have happened.

An interesting Old English pattern soup ladle, made in Newcastle in 1804 by Ann Robertson, widow of John Robertson I. The ladle is larger than usual, with a long bevelled handle, and original owners engraved script initials IAJ. The hallmarks, which are well struck and clear, are interesting as both the lion passant and the duty mark have been overstruck by a smaller different punch in each case. The hallmarks include makers mark AR, Newcastle townmarks (3 castles and leopard's head crowned), and date letter O for 1804. Both the lion passant and duty mark have been carefully overstruck in the top left hand corner, using smaller lion passant and duty mark punches, the duty punch outline is also a different shape. The care of the overstrike leads us to believe this was done deliberately by the assay office, perhaps to indicate a change of duty or the arrival of new punches in the Newcastle assay office. (we welcome assistance as to the cause of this interesting hallmarking anomaly). Note: Miles Harrison, in his...

An antique 9 carat gold and enamel burgee flag brooch or pin, for the Royal Yacht Squadron. The brooch is fabulous quality and in excellent condition, the flag has waves in it so it appears to be fluttering. The gold base and pin shows details of the rope, and the enamel flag has 4 colours - red cross on white background with gold crown with black detail. The brooch is fully hallmarked with makers mark JWB, crown 375 nine carat gold marks, Birmingham anchor and date letter k for 1909. "The Royal Yacht Squadron is one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the Suffix RYS to their names, and permitted to wear the White Ensign of the Royal Navy rather than the merchant Red Ensign worn by the majority of other UK registered vessels. The club's patron is Queen Elizabeth II and the club's admiral is Prince Philip who is also a former club commodore." (source wikipedia). The club was founded in 1815, an early...

A rare west country seal top silver spoon, with a Salisbury Group A finial. The seal top is prick engraved "E.B over T.B, 1661", indicating the celebration of a marriage. The bowl is fig shaped, and the stem is tapered and faceted. A small rat-tail connects the bowl to the stem. The seal top join is clearly visible at the back of the spoon, a horizontal join, as opposed to V joint seen on London spoons. The seal top is a decorative baluster casting, of substantial size, decorated with scrolls and gadrooning. This has been described by Tim Kent as a "Salisbury Group A" (Salisbury Silver and its Makers, 1550-1700, Silver Society Journal 3), where similar examples are illustrated on page 16. Kent has recognised that many West Country seal tops of the period were made by one silversmith who specialised in seal top castings, and who distributed them to the silversmiths of the area. Kent also identifies John Smith II as one of the silversmiths who used these (he cites an example of a Salisbury type B found on a sea...

A Dutch antique silver miniature longcase clock (grandfather clock), this is a reproduction of an 18th century clock (staande horloges in Dutch). The clock is richly decorated, the ogee base has 3 panels with boats, a windmill and church spire with houses. The main body is decorated with flowers, foliage and scrolls, the pierced hinged door (with locking mechanism) opens to reveal a pendulum (decorative, not functional). The main clock housing has barley twist front, panelled sides, hinged front piece with clasp (zig -zag to hold glass in place), this swings upwards to allow adjustment of clock hands. The rear has a circular hinged door to access clock mechanism. The top of the clock has 2 cast reclining angels (putti), and 2 winged angels blowing horns standing either side. The central figure is missing (atlas holding a globe which we have seen on other examples). Hallmarks include lion passant (2nd standard purity 833) and makers mark JPH struck on back, Minerva duty mark with A for Amsterdam struck on the ...

A beautiful Kutch Indian silver salver, wih stunning decoration, clearly made by a master craftsman. The salver has a central boss which is unengraved, surrounded by a typically Kutch style repousse (embossed) foliate design, with flowers, rims of leaves and gadrooned borders. This has hundreds of individual punch marks, so clearly made by hand. The central portion is surrounded by a pierced border, with more scrolls and flowers, and an additional cast applied border, also of scrolls, in addition to being extremely decorative this also strengthens the rim and provides grip. The rear of the salver clearly shows the repousse work, and where the cast rim has been soldered on. No hallmarks are present, as is usual for Indian silver of this period. These small salvers were used by servants to present visitors calling cards, or to serve a small drink (for example sherry). A very similar salver, made by the reknowned Oomersi Mawji, can be seen on the website "Indian Silver from the Raj" by Harish Patel, see http://s...

A rare set of 6 Scottish Provincial teaspoons, with engraved initial J. They are an unusual pattern, Fiddle without shoulders, and the edges are bevelled. Each spoon is slightly different, clearly each spoon has been made individually by hand. Each spoon is hallmarked with 3 "pot of lilies" followed by makers mark WC. The marks on 3 spoons are excellent, well struck and very clear, on 2 the bottom right hand corner is not visible, and on 1 spoon the marks are partially visible (but the pot of lilies still clearly visible) - as is often found with makers individually struck by hand. The pot of lilies townmark (azure a pot of growing lilies argent) is taken from the arms of the Burgh of Dundee (Jackson pg 598). Each pot has 3 lilies and 2 handles clearly visible.

A Cape Silver lemoen lepel, (orange spoon), in very good condition, and with very clear makers mark. This spoon is typical of the Cape lemoen lepels, with pointed terminal and bowl, the bowl itself eye shaped and quite deep. The spoon has typical Cape engraving, with a 4 petal flower and wrigglework along the edges of the handles. It also has a distinctive V joint connecting handle to bowl. The IC makers mark is well struck and clear (Welz mark 32 with canted corners). Welz describes orange spoons as"probably the most attractive type of spoon made at the Cape, derived from Dutch spoons", pg 95. He also notes that all known examples are by Cape born silversmiths of the early 19th century (so not made by the more prolific English immigrants who arrived after 1815). As far as we are aware, only Jan Lotter and Johannes combrink made lemoen lepels, probably between 1800 and 1815. Note - this spoon matches the pair S 1922.

A very fine Indian silver card case, magnificently decorated, clearly made by a master craftsman. One side features the Hindu Goddess Durga astride a lion, with sword in air, she is surrounded by 2 other deities, an antelope, a leopard, a lion mask and 5 birds, one is a peacock, the 2 at the bottom could be phoenix?, all surrounded by scrolls. The reverse side is equally impressive, and features an Indian deity in a temple, surrounded by 6 other deities (some with wings), 2 birds above a blank cartouche for engraved initials, and a variety of fruit and flowers (including berries, strawberry and a thistle). The case is rectangular in shape, the lid pulls off, the fit is very snug, the decoration is seamless through the divide. The sides of the case has 6 symmetrical tube shaped protusions on either side, this is for improved grip, we have noted this feature on other high quality Indian silver card cases. As is usual for Indian silver, there are no hallmarks present. As you can see from the photographs, the qua...

A pair of antique sterling silver shoe buckles, made in Birmingham in 1912. The buckles are rectangular with canted corners, with a supporting centre strut for attachment to a shoe. Both buckles are clearly hallmarked, one makers mark has been over-stamped by the Levi & Salaman makers mark, so they were probably the retailers. Shoe buckles were fashion accessories for both men and women from the mid 17th century for the next few hundred years.

A Chinese export silver tablefork in the Fiddle pattern, made by one of the most prolific Chinese Export silversmiths, Wongshing. The fork has engraved initials CE in Old English font (this is well done) on the back of the fork, so dating back to a period when forks were placed tines down on a table. The fork has very clear and detailed pseudo hallmarks, clearly struck by punches without wear, so this fork was probably made early in Wongshing's career. The marks include pseudo Georgian duty mark (note collar and long flowing hair), pseudo crowned leopards head townmark (nose and eyes visible, crown detail too), makers mark W and pseudo lion passant (round eyes and nose, fat rump). The punch outlines are clear as well, 2 are cambered (domed top), one loboid, and one rectangular (Poole, Identifying Antique British Silver, page 14). These are amongst the clearest Chinese Export silver hallmarks we have seen, and deserve further study. Wongshing is known as one of the most prolific Chines Export silversmiths, mak...

A very pleasing pair of Scottish Provincial silver sugar tongs, by David Gray of Dumfries. The tongs are plain but have lovely proportions, which are noticeably different from English made tongs. The hallmarks are excellent, unicorn, makers mark DG, and fouled anchor. This combination of marks is unusual and is not recorded by either Jackson (pg 597) or by Turner (Directory of Scottish Provincial Silversmiths). The tongs are engraved with script initials EB, which is original.

A lovely pair of Early Georgian Hanoverian dessert or Child's spoons, made by the leading Huguenot spoonmaker of his day. The spoons are nicely proportioned, and have a double drop. The spoons are engraved on the back (as is usual for this period) with an interesting original family armorial, an Eagle wearing crown, clutching a quarter circle (sextant?) in its talon. The spoons are bottom marked, as is usual for this period, as a result the hallmarks are slightly squashed but still clearly legible, including makers mark PH under acorn for Paul Hanet. The date letter K is also clear, in unusual square outline (only K and M, 1725 and 1727, are not in Norman Shield, the only anomalies between 1561 and 1739). The lion passant and crowned leopards head town marks are partially visible. Paul Hanet is described by Grimwade (London Goldsmiths, page 532) "from the evidence of the survival of pieces bearing his mark, Hanet was clearly one of the principal Huguenot spoonmakers of his day". Hanet entered his first Lond...

A Rare Set of 6 Liberty & Co. Japanese Sterling Silver Gilded Octopus Teaspoons, made by Sadajiro of Musashiya (Yokohama), these were amongst the first silver items imported by Arthur Lasenby Liberty for his Liberty Arts & Crafts Department store. The spoons have octopi finials, bamboo cane handles, and ormer (abalone) shell bowls, what is remarkable is that each octopus is different. The octopi have been described as "comical, scratching their heads or frowning, adding a wonderful touch of humour" - Simon Moore, Artists Spoons, page 50. The spoons are beautifully gilded, and retain much of the original gilding, their is slight wear on the handles from use. This gilding of the entire spoon is unusual, we have seen other sets without gilding and one set with gilded bowls only. The spoons are well preserved in their original wooden Liberty & Co. box, with green plush velvet interior and green leather exterior with the Liberty logo stamped in gilt lettering, it reads "Liberty & Co. Ltd. Jewellers 218a Regent St....