An extremely rare, Brittania silver, rattail soup ladle in the Hanoverian pattern, of good gauge. The patination on the ladle is lovely, and the bowl, rattail and handle are in proportion, with no sign of alteration. The ladle has the initials E*G scratch engraved on the back of the handle. The stem rises at a sharp angle (almost 90 degrees) to the bowl, the characteristics of a ladle as opposed to a spoon. Snodin (English silver spoons, 1974, pg 46) describes the earliest ladles as dating from the 1730's, this is a rare early example. The hallmarks are worn but visible, the makers mark is very worn, with only the outline of the shield and a ghosting of the makers initials visible. The date letter is poorly struck, but visible enought to determine D from 1719 fairly confidently. Given the wear on the makers mark, an interesting debate has ensued as to the maker. The first letter is definitely S, the second is unclear, the distinctively shaped shield surrounding the makers mark is clearly visible. We had origi...

A rare Georgian silver novelty articulated fish vinaigrette, made by William Lea & Co in Birmingham, 1817. The fish has 6 separate articulated sections, and a hinged lid (fish head) that opens to reveal an oval gilded vinaigrette, with scrolling grille which opens to reveal the gilded sponge compartment. The open mouth contains a suspensory silver ring, to allow the vinaigrette to be attached via a chain. The vinaigrette is beautifully engraved, with scales, fins and eyes, the tail and top fin are also realistically engraved. The hallmarks on the tail are very clear, the grille is also hallmarked. William Lea & Co worked between 1811 and 1825, they focused on small novelty items. A number of these fish vinaigrettes by Lea and Co are known, featuring 2 different engraving styles. An almost identical vinaigrette, also made by Lea & Co in 1817, is featured on the Bourdan Smith website (www.bourdansmith.co.uk), incorrectly described as reticulated, has very similar engraving to this one. Another example, made a y...

A magnificent silver gilt snuffbox with a superb finely detailed battle scene. The gilding on the battle scene has different tones, the base has a deeper rich red tinge, this fades to a lighter yellow gold colour in the sky. The box is exceptional quality and a pleasing weight. The sides and rim are richly decorated with cast flowers and thistles, which leads us to believe it is possibly a Scottish battle scene (we welcome opinions!). The battle is being fought with swords, battleaxes, lances, shields, armour and horses, no sign of firearms. The detail includes a castle in the background, flags, finely detailed armour and armorials on the shield - the work of a master craftsman. The base is engine turned, and has a blank cartouche. The interior lid is engraved "Presented to Thomas Ogilvy Esqr, by the New Quay Company of Manchester, as a mark of their gratitude, for his great attention & trouble as arbiter, in the investigation of the disputed claim, made on them by Messrs Francis Philips & Sons, 1829". The en...

A rare Irish silver Freedom Box, engraved with the coat of arms of the city of Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. Freedom boxes are typically Irish, and were used as presentation pieces to distinguished non- residents who received the honorary freedom of the city (Bennett, Collecting Irish Silver). Example from Dublin, Youghal, Limerick and Cork are known (Bennett), Londonderry is rare. The coat of arms includes a skeleton sitting on a hill, with a turreted castle, and the George Cross and dagger of London above. The skeleton is thought to represent starvation during the great siege. The city motto "Vita Veritas Victoria" (Life, Truth, Victory) is engraved below. The engraving quality is superb, with delicate flowers and chased C scrolls. The decorated lid is a separate panel that has been set into a presumably plain table snuff box. The box has a curved thumbpull for easy opening, and is gilded interior and exterior, with exception of the base. The only hallmarks present are the makers mark (struck twice, on ...

An extremely rare miniature silver coffee pot by the Huguenot John Hugh Le Sage, subordinate goldsmith to the King. The coffee pot is early Rococo style, with relief chasing of flowers and scrolls around the base and border below the cover. As is expected with early Rococo (1740 - 1750), large areas are left blank, only after 1750 did full Rococo develop which filled in the blanks. The swan neck spout is leaf wrapped, and the wooden handle has a typical double C scroll. The lid, which is richly decorated, has a stepped dome cover and acorn finial. The pot also has a tucked in base and stand-away hinge. The only hallmarks are the makers mark (script JS underneath crown) struck 3 times on the base (Grimwade 1680, Jacksons pg 192). As per the plate act of 1739, silver toys were exempted from assay, and only required the makers mark. A number of silver toys have been attributed to John Hugh Le Sage, many of which today reside in museums, including the Henry Ford Museum (USA) and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&...

A magnificent and rare early Brittania standard silver coffee pot of very good quality, with handle at right angles to the spout, in the Queen Anne style. The pot has a high domed lid with baluster finial, a stand-away hinge, and an octagonal swan neck spout with "Ducks Head" terminal.The pot itself is the tapering plain cylindrical shape with spreading foot, and the handle is turned fruitwood. The coffee pot is plain except for a lovely contemporary armorial, a diamond shaped logenze surrounded by plumes, with the arms of Newdigate (gules three lion's gambs erased argent) impaling a lion rampant reguardant gules. The logenze indicates ownership by a widow of the Newdigate family, as the lozenge is the only vehicle for a widow to display her arms. This plain style is usually called Queen Anne, the shape of coffee pots changed circa 1723, when the lid became flattened and the spout moved opposite the handle (Judith Banister, 3 Centuries of Silver Coffee Pots). As is usual for coffee pots of this era, it is qu...

An extremely rare Irish Provincial silver soup ladle from Limerick, made by Joseph Johns, Limericks "most accomplished, prolific and arguably most successful silversmith" (A Celebration of Limerick Silver, John Bowen & Conor O'Brien, pages 140 & 198 - a book we highly recommend). The ladle is in the Rococo style, with a fluted bowl and asymmetrical chased floral decoration on the handle and back of bowl, and has a hooked terminal (or end, described as a "crooked end" by Bennett - Irish Silver, pg 115). The ladle also has an engraved family crest, an armoured arm embowed holding an arrow. The bowl, which is fluted on both sides, is huge, over 10 cms in diameter, this is a substantial ladle with a good gauge. The fluted bowl was described by Douglas Bennett as "an alluring feature feature for the collector" (Collecting Irish Silver, pg 115). The join of bowl to handle has character, the drop has worn engraving, and also a semi circular strengthening plate, which unfortunately was not strong enough to prevent da...

A magnificent set of 4 early Georgian cast scallop shell dishes, with "curled" handles, the ends "rolled over" to form a double scroll grip, in the manner of Onslow pattern flatware. The use of scallop shells is the subject of some argument, they have long been called "butter shells", but have also been described as "oyster scallops", salts, sweetmeat and sauce dishes (Judith Bannister, "Scallop Shells in English Silver, Collectors Guide, June 1967"). They are in the style of Paul de Lamerie, who popularised these in the 1730's, so much so that other makers followed suit. The shells are realistically cast, roughly life size and rest on 3 dolphin feet, also cast, in keeping with the marine theme. Each shell is also engraved with a family crest, a Maltese cross over a crescent, surrounded by branches. The shells are exceptional quality, they are solid and heavy, and the detail on both shells and dolphins is good. The hallmarks are visible but given the curved shape of the shell are not well struck, and are worn...

A magnificent 18th Century Dutch silver sugar caster (strooibus), made in The Hague in 1761 by Pieter van der Kruyf. The caster is large, just under 24 cm, and heavy at 511 grammes, the quality is superlative, this is a museum quality piece. The caster is the traditional baluster shape, but the main body has four twisted ribs, beginning at the foot, which swirl upwards, a very pleasing design feature. The roughly octagonal and cast base has 4 raised leaf like designs. The caster lid also has an attractive design, with very intricate piercings (rococo scrolls) and textured engraving. The finial is a cast flower bud. The hallmarks on the caster lid are clear, crowned lion rampant standard mark (fineness 934), The Hague (Den Haag or S Gravenhage) city mark (stork holding eel below coronet), date letter P crowned for 1761, all 3 of the marks are well struck. The 4th mark is makers mark PK in rectangular punch, the P is worn but the K is clear. There are no hallmarks on the base. A very similar sugar caster, made ...