A set of 6 matching sterling silver golf teaspoons, with embossed crossed golf clubs and ball at the top of each spoon, with reeded border. The spoons are a good quality and weight. Hallmarks are clear on all 6 teaspoons. Walker and Hall were a large and successful firm, they worked between 1882 and 1960.

An early antique silver vesta case, with an applied cast golfer in full swing. The vesta is rectangular, with applied strike plate on the bottom of the vesta, the hinge lid has a suspension loop for adding to a chain. Dated 1886 this is an early vesta case, most vestas date between 1890 and 1920. The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark WG/JL (William Gibson & John Lawrence Langman) of Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co of Regent Street, a very prestigious firm founded in 1882, now the designated house of Crown Jewellers Garrards, following amalgamation in 1952 (both part of Sears via Mappin & Webb). John Langman was an interesting personality, he equipped and maintained the Langham Field Hospital during the Boer War (Culme, Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, page 184).

An Arts & Crafts silver sauce boat, with planished (hand hammered) body and a beautiful curvi-linear bi-furcating handle. The sauce boat has 3 feet, and is the traditional shape with a deep lip, very suitable for pouring. The hand hammered body and handle picks up the light, this is a lovely item. The handle is Art Nouveau in shape and style. The hallmarks are very well struck and clear, including makers mark G.U for George Unite & Sons, the business was founded in 1825 by George Unite, who apprenticed with Joseph Willmore, it still trades today.

A nine carat gold fishing rod and reel brooch, with a cast silver and enamel rainbow trout jumping over the rod. The fish has lovely detail, and the colours are realistic, the enamel work perfect, with no damage. The rod is segmented, overall this is a lovely brooch. The rod is hallmarked 9CT for 9 carat gold in 2 places, and also makers mark A&W, the fish is stamped SILVER. The box is also good quality, leather and silk, and reads "Terry & Co, Goldsmiths & Silversmiths, Corner of Cross St & King St, Manchester. We have traced an advert of theirs to 1967.

A pair of Cape silver sugar tongs, in the Fiddle pattern, with original engraved initials IB. The hallmarks are very clear, and include makers mark FW and the Cape stub, comprising of 4 pseudo hallmarks (lion passant facing right, date letter A, Georgian duty mark and leopards head town mark). Cape silver sugar tongs are rarely encountered.

Design registered by the retailer Thornhill of New Bond Street on 21 June 1870. The bugle carries the registry mark, Thornhill engraving and full hallmarks for Sampson Mordan, London 1874. Has hanging chain and screw stopper on separate chain, both original. The perfume bottle cap is also hallmarked, and has the original cork stopper, in excellent condition. It is a screw cap which fits snugly and closes perfectly.

A Scottish provincial silver basting (or gravy) spoon in the Fiddle pattern, made by Alexander Cameron in Dundee, with Edinburgh hallmarks for 1824. The spoon is good quality and has a good feel, it is suitable for use as a serving spoon. The hallmarks are excellent, and include the "CAM over ERON" and "DUN over DEE" marks used by Cameron, along with very clear Edinburgh marks. Cameron was apprenticed to Robert Keay of Perth, and worked between 1818 and 1849. Following the re-imposition of duties in Great Britian in 1784, a duty mark had to be struck on silver, which in Scotland could only be done in Edinburgh. This meant that the provincial silversmiths had to submit their silver to Edinburgh - often a long arduous journey, so few did. By the 1820's when this spoon was made, provincial silversmiths such as Cameron submitted a portion of their silver to Edinburgh, to satisfy the authorities.

A rare 18th century Birmingham silver caddy spoon by leading maker Joseph Taylor. The spoon is a naturalistic veined leaf, very finely decorated on the back and the front, the handle a coiled tendril, simply formed from silver wire rolled into a circle, with a tail, flattened to form the connection with the bowl, it works remarkably well. The hallmarks have been individually very carefully struck, as a result all 5 hallmarks are fully intact and clearly visible, which is not often the case with finely decorated silver. They include Birmingham anchor, date letter b for 1799, cusped duty mark, lion passant and makers mark IT for Joseph Taylor. 3 very similar caddy spoons are depicted in the book "Caddy Spoons" by John Norie (a book we highly recommend), figure 59g, by Joseph Taylor dated 1798, and also 2 by Elizabeth Morley (dated 1802 and 1815), figure 22a and c. The same book says "all 18th century Birmingham caddy spoons must be considered comparatively rare and desirable, the facts are that very few were ma...

A beautiful Italian silver salt cellar, made in the Kingdom of Naples (Napoli) or the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, at the end of the French Domination period when the Kingdom had Napoleonic rulers, the French influence can be seen in the design. The cellar has 2 parts, a circular base with intricate pierced skirting, gadrooned rim, and 3 wonderful cast feet with lion heads with rings, and paw feet, the detail is lovely. The feet are supported by curved triangular supporting bars, which contain the hallmarks. The base holds a circular gilded cellar, which can be removed for cleaning, it is held in place with a locking mechanism, 2 bars that fit into slots and then rotate to secure. In addition to the beautiful design, the quality is very pleasing, this would have been an expensive item when new. The condition is also pleasing, just a small dent to the cellar, and another dent to the skirting, salt cellars were well used and often are damaged. The base has 3 hallmarks, makers mark GB under device (all assistan...

A lovely 9 carat gold and enamel RAF (Royal Air Force) sweetheart brooch, with very good detail. This is very pleasing quality, it would have been an expensive item when first made. The brooch has RAF in red gold under a red enamel crown, above a green enamel laurel wreath, all set in gold, with the feathered yellow gold wings either side. The contrast between the red gold RAF and yellow gold wings is lovely, set off by the red and green enamel. The back is clearly hallmarked "9 CARAT", indicating 9 carat gold. The badge and both clasp connectors are 9 carat gold, the pin itself is a whiter colour so may not be gold.

9 carat gold, beautifully cast and chased in the form of a clam shell. Beautiful hinge.

Rare set of 6 Cape fiddle pattern dessert forks, with very clear English pseudo hallmarks and makers mark on all 6 forks. They have an interesting crest, a roaring half rampant lion with his front paws on a strange shaped object (we guess a church with a spire?).

A pleasing, heavy caddy spoon by the well known caddy spoon maker Thomas James, whose spoons often have interesting handle shapes, and a "fish-tail" projection at the base of the handle. The spoon has a beautiful crest of a hand holding a cross, with the motto "VIRTUTI FORTUNA COMIS", translated "excellence, fortune and kindness". The hallmarks are very clear. This spoon appears to be an identical twin of a spoon sold by Woolley and Wallis from the John Norie collection, Part 1, April 2004, lot 132. We have now identified the family crest as belonging to the Mayne Family of Scotland, from Tullibody & Powis in Stirling. The crest is described as "Cubit arm, erect, proper habited sable cuff argent holding a cross crosslet gules", the motto above the crest denotes a Scottish family. One possible original owner of this spoon is Colonel William Mayne, who served as Captain of the 1st Life Guards at Waterloo. Thomas James was freed in 1789, but only entered his own mark in 1804.

An antique Essex crystal brooch, set in an attractive 18 carat gold setting with rope border. The brooch contains the burgee (yacht club pennant) of the Royal London Yacht Club, with the London crest under a crown. The brooch is of extremely good quality, and is in immaculate condition. The crystal is convex, polished into a cabochon, the image itself is carved and hand painted, and the viewer is given a 3 dimensional view. The Royal London Yacht Club was founded in 1838, and is now based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The hallmarks are very clear, and include the crown and "18" indicating 18 carat gold, Chester wheatsheaf town mark, date letter gothic "S" for 1881, and makers mark R.N. for Richard Nevill, who was a manufacturing jeweller based in Birmingham (Chester Gold and Silver Marks, Ridgway and Priestley, pg 360), they worked between 1880 and 1917. The rim has additional 18 ct hallmarks, and the gold pin is also hallmarked.

A Victorian silver "Mr. PUNCH" pin tray, small and dainty but with a lot of detail in the design. This design was originally used in 1849 on Punch Magazine, the artist was Richard Doyle (Punch magazine was first published in 1841, some commentators refer to this picture as from the first edition, which is incorrect). The tray is rectangular, with a shell and scroll border, embossed with "PUNCH" above Mr. Punch painting his dog Toby, surrounded by 17 different figures (monkeys, a group of musicians, and someone riding a donkey, even a devil popping out of a cornucopia!). The easel between Punch and Toby is not clear on the front, but can be clearly seen on the back of the tray, we suspect the die was worn when this was produced, rather than wear since then. The tray is stamped out of quite thin silver, and was clearly mass produced as a novelty for the Victorian market where the "Punch and Judy' show was very popular. The hallmarks are clearly struck at the base of the design, including makers mark CSFS for C...

An interesting 9 carat gold bar brooch, featuring a well modelled monkey sitting on bamboo, holding a stack of gold coins in his hand. The detail is lovely, the monkey's tail wraps around the bamboo. The brooch also has a gold safety chain with coat hanger hook, to prevent the brooch being lost. The brooch is clearly hallmarked "9Ct" for nine carat gold. This is a well made brooch with fine detail, the addition of the gold safety chain reminds us of gold brooches made in London in the first half of the 20th century. A monkey holding gold coins is considered by some as a lucky monkey, a symbol of prosperity and wealth.

An interesting Indian Colonial silver menu holder, awarded as a military trophy by the Viceroy of India. The trophy reads "Viceroy's Shield 1926". The holder is in the form of a shield, with a mounted soldier in the centre, surrounded by a highly ornate design of foliage, flowers, bamboo and scrolls. The shield has an attached clip at the back, to hold a menu or nametag at a dinner table, and it stands on a secure rectangular silver base with rounded front. It is engraved on the rear with the recipients details, "B" Right L/Cpl. A.H. Greatrex". The shield is hallmarked "JB&Co, Silver". the mark is legible but not clearly struck. We believe this to be the mark of J. Boseck & Company, which was established in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1922, and still exists today. J. Boseck & Company are known as manufacturers and retailers of high end gold and silver products in India, in fact they supplied the watch presented to Sir Edmund Hilary after he successfully climbed Mt Everest in 1953. They started as an Anglo Indian fi...

An interesting set of 3 Witwatersrand Agricultural Society Rand Easter Show Sterling Silver Medallions, all presented to J.B. (Barry) Orpen, of Bar Circle Brahmans, in 1961, 1962 and 1964. The first 2 were awarded to "J.D.H. Lady Jake Manso for Champion Brahman Cow/ Heifer", the 1964 was awarded to "Bar Circle 3/61 for Reserve Champion Brahman Cow/ Heifer". All 3 are well preserved in their original boxes, all marked W.A.S. on the lid, one with RMP on interior, the others with SAM interior (Royal Mint Pretoria became South African Mint in 1941, so possibly a replacement box). This medallion is described by Laidlaw as number 0144c (www.southafricanmedals.com, a site we highly recommend)he describes "Obverse: Horse, cow and calf, sheep and pig in a field flanked by sheaths of corn, behind on right, vintage car and steam engine, in the distance mine head works and chimney, radiant sun on the horizon. Legend on a ribbon above: "WITWATERSRAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY" with two small crosses at the top on each side. At...

An interesting antique Indian silver spoon, beautifully decorated with highly intricate designs, hence our attribution tp the Kutch region. The spoon is a pleasure to hold, soup spoon in size but could also be used as a small serving spoon. The handle is hollow, the dome shaped finial, with pierced sides, was made as a separate piece. The repousse decoration is very fine, clearly made by a master craftsman, it features scrolls, pillars and leaves, the finail has gadrooning as well. The bowl is also lovely, scrolls linking to handle, and a triangle and circle design around the rim. Of particular interest is that this spoon is hallmarked with maker mark DAC, on the front of the bowl rim, and another indistinguishable mark in the same place on the other side of the bowl, very easy to miss amongst the decoration. We would welcome assistance with the identification of this maker.

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...