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Reproduction Medieval Silver Beaker - Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Ernest Cassel
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Reference: S1429
Period: George V
Year: 1916
Silversmith: Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co Ltd.
Place: London
Price: $ 360.00
Weight: 275 grams
Dimensions: 8.7 cm diameter, 8.2 cm height
Condition: Excellent, apart from very slight dent to rim.
Description: 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 are usually very good quality. Note: The original beaker dated London 1496 is pictured and described in an article entitled "Sir Ernest Cassel (1852-1921)" by Tessa Murdoch, Silver Society Journal 37 (2021), page 95. The beaker was part of Cassel's collection, it is now in the Victoria & Albert museum. Murdoch describes "makers mark of a merchants mark with a holly leaf surround, is the second-earliest known piece of English hallmarked hollow-ware. The vertical ribs, a feature derived from French and German glass drinking vessels and Spanish bronze mortars, provide the drinker with a good grip". Murdoch also notes she is currently making a version of the beaker under the supervision of Gareth Harris. Sir Ernest Cassel was the most powerful individual financier in Europe of his generation, his granddaughter Edwina married Rear Admiral Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India. Cassel was a personal friend of King Edward VII, he built an important silver collection which is well described in the article. Note 2: - The original beaker is also photographed and described in the book "Illustrated History of English Plate" by Charles Jackson, Volume II, page 683, dated 1911. Jackson describes the 10 projecting ribs "like farrier's nails, with bevelled edges and a slightly waved outline, with a suggestion (without evidence) that the cup was made for a Guild of Farriers. He also notes the beaker was sold at auction at Christie's in 1902 for GBP 1270, and is now in the collection of J.A. Holms (presumably the owner prior to Cassel). Note3: - The V&A museum has a wonderfully detailed description of the beaker on their website, see https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O124280/beaker-unknown/. They describe the suggestion that on the basis of the TW initials that the Cassel beaker may have belonged to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey as "a romantic 19th century fancy". They suggest a more likely owner was Sir Thomas Whately (circa 1685-1765), a prosperous London merchant who became Director of the Bank of England, as it was the Whately family that sold the beaker in 1902. Note 4 - On 2 May 2024 another example of this beaker (along with a small bowl) was sold by Woolley & Wallis, Lot 1351, for GBP 1197, after an estimate of GBP 120-180, so clearly these beakers are now in demand.
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Antique silver whisky tumbler
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Scale
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Hallmark
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Goldsmiths & Silversmiths
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A Clark Connoisseur July 1912
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