Silver & Silver-plated items

Barkentin and Krall chalice

Barkentin and Krall chalice - £27,500 at JS Auctions.

When it comes to antique silverware, the size and weight of objects does not always determine value. Grand works by the likes of London-based Huguenot Paul de Lamerie or the Germain family in Paris have acquired huge status and value, while small objects such as nutmeg graters, early spoons or vesta cases can command high sums as they have a strong specialist collecting base.

The system of silver hallmarks serves as a quality control, giving an official stamp from showing the metal is of requisite purity, but the marks (or punches) also reveal the year, the place of origin and the identity of the maker, providing pieces of silverware with their own stamped passport of information.


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Pick of the week: Silver vesta case strikes a blow for the motor car

20 September 2021

This rare Victorian silver vesta case with an enamelled scene of an early tiller-driven automobile is hallmarked for Sampson Mordan & Co, London 1896.

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Irish provincial silver amassed by German collector

13 September 2021

Bonhams’ (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) sale of Silver & Vertu included a number of Irish provincial pieces from the collection of Peter Ticher.

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Silver salts count as York rarities

06 September 2021

Following an upturn in the fortunes of the silver trade in York, an assay office reopened there in 1776 and remained active until final closure in 1858.

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Relics from rare Keith silver to symbols of Jacobite rebellion feature at Edinburgh auction

06 September 2021

The rarest Scottish provincial town marks, known only from spoons and ladles, are those of Stonehaven, Ellon and Keith.

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Monart glass makes a mark on home turf

30 August 2021

Collection of distinctive pre-war glass produced in Perth impresses at local saleroom

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Snuffbox copy has its own charms

23 August 2021

Along with its Summer Fine Art sale, Tennants held a jewellery, watches and silver sale on July 17.

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Bids tabled for £60,000 Prague pietra dura casket

16 August 2021

Eight phone bidders competed for this splendid ebony and pietra dura table casket offered at a recent auction at Claydon Auctioneers in Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire.

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Collector goes on a £30,000 steeple chase

16 August 2021

Distinctive steeple cups are scarce but an Elizabethan silver example came to market at a Somerset auction house

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Snuff box sold by dealer was a ‘gift from Lord Nelson’

16 August 2021

A snuff box believed to have been gifted by Lord Nelson to his personal secretary during a dinner party attended by Emma Hamilton has been sold by Paul Fraser Collectables for £45,000.

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Pride of the snuff boxes from Lion collection

16 August 2021

A silver sale at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) this summer included a selection of 24 snuff boxes from the Lion collection – as published in 'British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection' (2015).

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George I coffee pot comes to Maine auction

16 August 2021

Thomaston Place is holding one of its extensive multi-discipline summer sale over three days from August 27-29 featuring a wide mix of American, European and Asian paintings, furnishings and objects.

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Silver salver gift to ‘Johnnie’ Johnson

09 August 2021

Cheffins’ auction in Cambridge on August 26 includes a silver presentation salver given to Air Vice Marshal James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ Johnson (1915-2001), the highest-scoring Western Allied pilot against the Luftwaffe and the RAF’s officially recognised top-scoring fighter pilot of the Second World War.

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Belgian buyers out in force as dealer's collection comes up for sale

09 August 2021

Despite a disappointing selling rate, dealer’s collection included notable results

RSPB medal

Plea for help to recover late artist’s medals stolen from Macclesfield museum

05 August 2021

Two medals awarded to the late artist Charles Tunnicliffe (1901-79) were stolen when The Silk Museum in Macclesfield was burgled earlier this week.

Paul Storr wine coolers

From Paul Storr silver to Sèvres porcelain – 10 highlights from dealers at TEFAF Online 2021

31 July 2021

The first details of objects that dealers will exhibit at ‘TEFAF Online’ in September have been revealed.

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Medal minted as US presidential thanks for lifesaving rescue off coast of Kent

19 July 2021

A recent sale at Bentley’s (19% buyer’s premium) in Cranbrook, Kent included a rare US Presidential lifesaving medallion.

Charles I inkstand

Rare silver inkstand makes its mark among latest London auctions

12 July 2021

The overall performance of the latest London sales of Old Master pictures and ‘important’ works of art was fairly mixed but the auction houses did at least welcome the return of some big-ticket items.

Silver gilt chalice

Irish silver gilt chalice pre-dates Reformation

12 July 2021

This 6½in (16cm) Irish silver gilt chalice dating from c.1480 is a rare survival from before the Reformation.

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Warning over Brexit effect on British hallmarking

12 July 2021

The British Hallmarking Council (BHC) is to raise concerns with the government about the impact of Brexit on antique gold and silver exports into the EU.

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The web shop window: Stanley Matthews' silver tea service

12 July 2021

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

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