A good quality antique silver replica of what is commonly referred to as "The Tudor Cup", which became famous when it was sold (as part of the Dunn-Gardner collection) at Christies auction in 1901 for GBP 4100, the highest price ever paid for a piece of silver at that time. John Dunn-Gardner, of Soham Manor, had a legendary collection of silver, the sale covered 6 volumes. The original cup of 1521, with scallop shell makers mark, is also known as the Holms cup, named after a previous owner. The original cup is now part of the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum, who purchased it in 1958 for GBP 9500. The museum's resources were augmented by the National Art Collection's fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, H.M. Treasury and 2 private donors, enabling the cup to be kept in Great Britian (Ian Finlay, Silver in the Royal Scottish Museum, Connoisseur June 1959), where the original cup is pictured. The original cup is also pictured in the book "Old London Silver" by Howard (pg 100). ...
An Arts and Crafts Swedish silver sugar bowl with lid, with circular hand hammered body on a raised circular foot, the lid with a ring finial. It is a simple but beautiful design, and is a very good weight and excellent quality. The hallmarks are very clear, having been protected by the raised foot. They include the Swedish State mark (3 crowns) and 830 silver standard (S in hexagon), Goteborg city mark (crowned G), date letter for 1962 (M9) and sponsors mark for Thore Eldh (SFS). Thore Eldh was a highly regarded Swedish designer who worked between 1935 and 1967. In addition to the hallmarks, the bowl is stamped "Cecilia" in script form, we assume a pattern name.
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 delightful pair of Cape silver Konfyt forks, in the rare Fiddle and Shell pattern. The forks also have a bevelled edge, and are single struck. Fiddle and Shell pattern is scarce (Pickford, Silver Flatware), Cape silver in this pattern is very rare. The hallmarks on both forks are very clear, being makers mark MLS between 2 Fleur de Lys. Smith was a Dane who arrived in the Cape in 1757. He married 4 times, had 10 children, and died in 1806 (Welz, Cape Silver).
Pair of Cape Silver Konfyt (preserve) forks, in the Fiddle pattern, with very clear hallmarks and initials JWH. Pairs of konfyt forks are fairly rare, most konfyt forks found are singles. The hallmarks on both forks are very clear, and consist of makers mark, pseudo English dutymark and castle town mark. Johannes Lotter was a member of the Lotter family of silversmiths, he was the son of Willem Godfried Lotter and the brother of Carel David Lotter. He also made the snuffbox featured on our website (item S 185).
A rare matching pair of twisted stem konfyt (preserve) fork and spoon, the fork having 3 prongs. They have spearhead handles, with typical Cape floral engraving, and very clear hallmarks. Similar forks and spoons are illustrated in Heller's History of Cape Silver (Vol 1, pg 148) and Welz's Cape Silver (pg 41). Byleveld worked from 53 Loop Street and 31 Waterkant Street from 1814 - 1827, when he died age 35.
A beautiful silvergilt engine turned snuffbox with a chocolate brown agate (mocha agate) set in a rim of chased flowers, by a silversmith well known for his boxes. This box has a lovely weight and a pleasing feel.
Pleasing associated set of Cape tableforks, 5 by Lawrence Twentyman, one by his contempory John Townsend. Very clear hallmarks, showing the wide variety of hallmarking styles used by the Cape silversmiths. 2 forks have the initial W on the back.
An early James II silver trefid spoon, by one of the "First Fifteen" London spoonmakers (1580-1697), as identified by Tim Kent in his book "London Silver Spoonmakers". The trefid spoon has a ribbed rat-tail, and is prick engraved "M.P over C.G", indicating this spoon celebrated a marriage. The engraving is delightful, and is contemporary. The spoon is in lovely condition, well preserved given it's age. The makers mark is superb, very clearly struck and perfectly preserved, it could not be better - easily as good as the example illustrated by Kent (pg 36), taken from the original copper plate preserved by the Goldsmiths Hall. This is Thomas Allens' pre 1697 mark. It has 3 pellets above, and a rose below, all clearly visible. The other hallmarks are visible but worn, the crowned leopards head for London, and date letter h for 1685. The lion passant is just visible, but very worn. Thomas Allen was apprenticed to John King (another of the First Fifteen) in 1668, and freed in 1675 (Grimwade pg 422). He was a speci...
Three sterling silver napkin rings, shooting trophies for the Natal Rifle Association. The first is engraved "The Emma Thresh Trophy, 1929", the second "Murray-Smith Memorial, 1925, 2st Team", and the third "Royston Memorial 1st Team 1928", all three have an applied cast shield "Natal Rifle Association, Semper Paratus, 1862". The hallmarks are clear on all 3 napkin rings, makers mark F.H.A.& Co, for FH Adam and company of Birmingham, this mark was used 1919-1935. The Emma Thresh Trophy itself belongs to the Natal Carbineers, South Africa's senior regiment. The trophy itself is 16 kilograms of silver, and was donated in 1903 by Emma Thresh, as the shooting trophy for Colonial Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel William Murray-Smith of the Natal Mounted Rifles saw distinguished service in both the Boer War and Great war, he was awarded the Companion of the Distinguished Order and Croix de Guerre. He was an excellent shot, and won the Clark Kennedy Challenge Cup at Bisley during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, he als...
A boxed set of six sterling silver Hanoverian pattern teapoons, with matching sugar tongs. The spoons all have rat tails, and the tongs have the spoon pattern repeated on the arms. The quality is good, as you would expect from Mappin & Webb. The original box reads "Mappin & Webb Ltd, Regent Street, London W", this would have been an expensive item when new. All 7 items have excellent hallmarks, the 6 spoons are 1919, the tongs 1920. Mappin and Webb was founded in 1859, it still exists today and is one of Britain's most prestigious brands. In addition to Royal Warrants, Mappin and Webb are the Crown Jeweller.
A Danish silver Skonvirke (Arts & Crafts) pastry or cake server, made by the respected Danish silversmith Evald Nielsen in 1925. The server is the No 4 pattern, which has organic flowing scrolls in relief, so quite pleasing to hold. The server is hand hammered, with the planish marks visible on the blade and the stem. The blade is nicely shaped, and has a raised lip which increases away from the pointed tip, so very practical to use. The server is 830 grade silver, as is usual for Danish silver. The well struck hallmarks include "Evald Nielsen" in an attractive script, with "No 4" indicating pattern, date letter "ANNO 1925", the letter "S" surrounded by dots in shaped punch for silver, and "830" in oval punch surrounded by dots for grade of silver. Evald Nielsen worked between 1905 and 1958 from Copenhagen, he designed all his own designs (as opposed to his contemporary Georg Jensen). He won numerous awards internationally, and his silver can be seen in numerous museums, including the Metropolitan in New York...
A lovely Queen Anne Dognose (also called wavy end) spoon in Brittania silver. The Dognose was popular during the Queen Anne period, and the transition between the earlier Trefid and later Hanoverian can clearly be seen. This spoon is clearly engraved "S*B" on the back of the spoon, which is correct as spoons were placed bowl down on the table at this time. The S*B mark of the original owners probably signifies a betrothal. The spoon has a very pronounced rat-tail, and is quite good quality, this spoon has a nice feel. The makers mark Br above fleur de lys in shaped shield is very clear, this is Grimwade mark 209, the mark is clearly struck, with slight wear to the r. The remaining 3 marks are squashed (the stem was shaped after the hallmarks were struck) and partially worn, but still legible enough to see Brittania, Lions head erased and date letter for 1712. John Broake was freed in 1699 and worked until 1712, he was a specialist spoonmaker. A marrow scoop made by John Broake, also in 1712, is depicted in t...
A lovely Queen Anne Dognose (also called wavy end) spoon in Brittania silver. The Dognose was popular during the Queen Anne period, and the transition between the earlier Trefid and later Hanoverian can clearly be seen. This spoon is clearly engraved "S*B" on the back of the spoon, which is correct as spoons were placed bowl down on the table at this time. The S*B mark of the original owners probably signifies a betrothal. The spoon has a very pronounced rat-tail, and is quite good quality, this spoon has a nice feel. The makers mark Br above fleur de lys in shaped shield is very clear, this is Grimwade mark 209, the mark is clearly struck, but given the narrow spoon handle only a portion of the r is cisible. The remaining 3 marks are squashed (the stem was shaped after the hallmarks were struck) and partially worn, but still legible enough to see Brittania, Lions head erased and date letter for 1712. John Broake was freed in 1699 and worked until 1712, he was a specialist spoonmaker. A marrow scoop made by J...
An early antique silver trefid spoon, preserved in excellent condition, and with good hallmarks. The spoon is the traditional trefid shape (also called Pied de Biche, as the style originated in France), and has a lovely reeded rat-tail, which is quite rare. The spoon is engraved with contemporary initials "K * M", engraved correctly on the back of the spoon. The spoon is good quality, and has a lovely feel. The hallmarks include makers mark DO in diamond shaped punch with Fleur de Lys above and below. This mark belongs to Dorothy Grant (Grimwade 3591, Jackson pg 136, under 1680). Dorothy Grant was the widow of William Grant, she worked until 1712, both her sons Benjamin and William apprenticed under her (Grimwade pg 527). Other marks include crowned leopards head (worn), lion passant and date letter O for 1691, which is very clear. Note: We had originally ascribed this mark to John Downes (Jackson, pg 155, Wyler, pg 145, Grimwade pg 46), but this mark is clearly in a diamond rather than circular punch used by...
An Iona sterling Silver Prioress Anna Disc and Shield brooch, made by Alexander Ritchie of Iona, one of the most respected and sought after Scottish silver jewellers of the 20th century. The brooch is a classic Ritchie design in Celtic Arts & Crafts style, a convex shield with Celtic cross, and central knotwork boss. The 4 arms feature a copy of the stone effigy of Prioress Anna Maclean of Iona, the central boss reads "Prioress Anna - Iona". The original stone carving of Prioress Anna is still visible on Iona. The brooch is cast, the pin is in full working order, and the original safety pin chain is still intact and working. The hallmarks are worn, makers mark AR is just visible, as is "IONA" which is legible but worn. A second AR and IONA is present but badly worn. No date letter or townmark is present. We assume this means this was an early Ritchie piece, made before he started using the Chester assay office in 1910. A registration number (to protect the design) is clearly visible, Rd No 664083. Alex Ritc...
An unusual silver table bell, with cast silver handle of 2 young boys (cherubs or putti?), one holding the other upside down by the ankles. The casting has lovely detail, as can be seen in the photographs. The bell is quite heavy, and is good quality, with a clear ring. The clanger is also hallmarked silver. The hallmarks are clear, including makers mark JS, which appear to over strike another mark, so possibly JS is a retailer. We would welcome opinions on the significance of the cherubs, thank you.
A silver quaich of traditional shape, with 2 flat lug handles, and quite a large size. It is quite plain, which accentuates its lovely shape. The base is engraved "H.H. Plante, 12 Bury St, St James, S.W.", and the hallmarks are very clear. Quaiches are traditional Scottish drinking vessels, one's this size were passed around at ceremonial occasions. They are popular christening gifts in Scotland. The firm of H.H. Plante (Henry Hudson Plante) worked between 1907 and 1980.
A rare matching spoon and fork in the Old English Military Bead & Shell pattern, a pattern that is not recorded by Ian Pickford in his book "Silver Flatware". They are dessert size, so probably made for a child, as a Christening present. The base pattern is large bead (used in 19th century, fine bead was 18th century), but has been supplemented with the Shell pattern (concave on one side and convex on the other). This combination of bead and shell pattern is not recorded by Pickford and is not shown in the Chawner pattern book of 1875 (Pickford, Silver Flatware, pages 217-220), so must be described as rare. What adds to the rarity of this pair are the 2 small scrolls instead of shoulders, hence the Military designation, which has been recorded with Husk, Thread and Shell patterns, but not with Bead (Pickford page 230). The pair are double struck, and have engraved owners initials MH is script. Both are clearly hallmarked, including makers mark GA for Chawner & Co, who were the leading manufactures of silver ...
A magnificent silver beaker, decorated with 10 silver staves, which in addition to being decorative greatly improve the grip. It is extremely good quality and weight, and a pleasure to hold. The base is engraved "Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co, Regent St, W", and the hallmarks are clear. The Goldsmiths and Silversmiths company existed from 1880 to 1952, when it was absorbed into Garrards, the Crown Jewellers. Given it's date of 1916, we imagine it was used for water or whisky by an officer in the Great War. This beaker is a replica of a medieval beaker dated 1496 (Henry VII), that used to belong to Cardinal Wolsey. It is featured in an advertisement for Alexander Clark Co Ltd of Oxford Street, London, priced at 3 pounds 10 shillings, that appeared in The Connoisseur magazine of July 1912, which advertised reproductions of historical and classic cups, including the tudor bowl and cup, and Pompeii jug. High quality reproductions of famous silver items were popular in the early years of the 20th century, they ar...
