Silver & Silver-plated items

A spectacular Victorian silver fox modelled by taxidermist James Rowland Ward sold for £100,000 at Tennants on November 16.

Between 1923, when he opened his workshop and 1935, the year he dissolved his company, the French goldsmith Jean Trotain primarily produced vanity cases and cigarette boxes for many of the most prominent designers of the Art Deco era.

Although the size of the collecting audience is changing - and the arrival or departure of just one or two committed buyers can make a significant difference to prices - British provincial wares can command decent prices.

The Autumn Auction at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (26/25% buyer’s premium) in Exeter included an array of unusual objects from the collection of the late Christopher Hawkings.

In his magnus opus Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition, 1883, Thomas Holbein Hendley (1847-1917) documents what he called “a new and most interesting style of engraved silver plate developed in Alwar”.

Dressing table sets are among the most frequently surviving elements of late 17th century hollowware.

With the scrap price of silver at such a high level the sad truth is that many items will end up in the melting pot.

Two examples of substantial model presentation cannon came up at different salerooms recently.

Offered by Thomas Miller (24% buyer’s premium) in Newcastle was a large silver medal struck to mark the maiden voyage of the SS Normandie from Le Havre to New York on May 29, 1935. She took the Blue Riband at the first attempt.

Silver works by Sir Bache Cunard, Bt (1851-1925), legendary huntsman and scion of the Cunard shipping family, are incredibly rare – he presumably made items only for his family and friends.

Recent research is revealing the importance of the markings on Chinese export silver

Despite his pioneering aesthetic, many of Christopher Dresser’s designs were too complex and costly to be easily mass-produced.

Silver coffee pot with royal connection is just one of the many highlights at the Berkeley Square fair

A selection of upcoming lots focusing on stand-out items from two key design movements

Relatively little is known about the German-born artist and designer Elsa Tennhardt (1899-1980).

Pulling out a suitcase from under a bed during a probate valuation, Dawsons’ valuer could scarcely have guessed what they would find hidden inside.