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.


img_15-5.jpg

Candlesticks light up Bruges sale

13 January 2020

This impressive and rare pair of silver table candlesticks with cluster columns, square bases and drip cups had no visible hallmarks but is probably Dutch and late 17th century in date.

img_16-4.jpg

Pugin’s christening gift draws strong interest

13 January 2020

This small Gothic Revival beaker was made by ecclesiastical metal manufacturer John Hardman (Birmingham, 1848) at the height of the first partnership with AWN Pugin.

img_17-1.jpg

Silver coffee pots: a selection of hammer highlights

13 January 2020

The typical Georgian silver coffee pot is one of the great bargains of 21st century antiques collecting.

img_15-4.jpg

Performing elephant silver novelty sells well above predictions

13 January 2020

Victorian silver novelties do not come much better than this claret jug, formed as a 9in (23cm) tall kneeling elephant by James Barclay Hennell, London 1881. The hinged head (currently lacking tusks) forms the cover.

img_28-5.jpg

Prepare to be bowled over in Yorks

23 December 2019

The first event of the year for Galloway Antiques Fairs is its local event in Harrogate.

img_20-3.jpg

Spaniel sniffs out snuff

23 December 2019

Matthew Barton (25% buyer’s premium) attracted international interest in this early-19th century German gold snuff box at his November 20 London sale.

img_37-4.jpg

A tale of Hoffmann

23 December 2019

In 1906, three years after he had founded the Wiener Werkstätte with Koloman Moser, the multi-talented Austrian Josef Hoffmann designed a silver casket.

img_42-3.jpg

Duchess of Modena service: 11 pieces sold

16 December 2019

The 11 pieces of early-18th century Régence silver gilt from a dressing service pictured below were billed by Christie’s as “the last remnants of France’s most glorified stylistic and historically important period”.

img_37-1.jpg

The web shop window: Armoury of St James’s equestrian figure

16 December 2019

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

img_8-1.jpg

Pick of the week: Corking silver piece of Irish rebel memorabilia

09 December 2019

This rare piece of Cork silver of Irish Republican interest sold for £4000 (plus 23% premium) at Sworders latest sale.

img_13-3.jpg

Silver table toppers draw strong trade interest

02 December 2019

Exuding the exuberant confidence of pre-1914 Britain, this 21in (52cm) long silver table centrepiece, below, was a natural target for the London trade at the Anthemion (17.5% buyer’s premium) November 20 sale in Cardiff.

Dresden The_Green_Vault.jpg

Thieves steal precious baroque treasures from German museum

25 November 2019

Dresden’s Royal Palace has been targeted by thieves who cut the electricity supply to enter exhibition rooms at its museum containing thousands of valuable antiques.

img_37-2.jpg

Philip Rundell silver dishes among sales at the west London winter staging of Olympia antiques fair

25 November 2019

A pair of George III covered serving dishes made in London 1819 by Philip Rundell sold from the stand of Mary Cooke Antiques during the latest edition of the Winter Art & Antiques Fair in Olympia.

img_14-1.jpg

Cartier cigarette case and presentation trowels give echoes of the First World War at Cirencester auction

25 November 2019

Differing echoes of the First World War attracted bidders at Dominic Winter’s (20% buyer’s premium) Cirencester auction in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday.

img_14-5.jpg

George III trophy heads to South Africa

25 November 2019

An impressive piece of neoclassical silver gilt with an impressive provenance, this George III trophy was consigned to Gerrards (18% buyer’s premium) by a vendor whose great-grandmother had apparently been given it ‘by royalty’.

img_52-3.jpg

A price not to be sneezed at

18 November 2019

In the first decades of the 19th century, watchmakers in many parts of Europe made a living by producing highly ornate watches and gold boxes, many of them for Chinese buyers.

img_16-1.jpg

Unsentimental decision to split Queen Anne silver tazza and tankard after 300 years together

18 November 2019

Although the catalogue noted the rarity of a Queen Anne silver tazza and tankard having been together for more than 300 years, they were offered separately at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne.

img_11-2.jpg

Little silver collection coming to auction includes big rarities

11 November 2019

The Little collection of early English silver is coming to Christie’s London on December 3. The auction comprises 26 domestic vessels from the Tudor and early Stuart periods that survived the tumult of the Civil War period. Some pieces are considered the last of their type in private hands.

img_60-1.jpg

Irish silver is the Maine attraction

28 October 2019

This Irish silver two-handled footed cup will be included in the three-day, multi-discipline sale taking place at Thomaston Place Auction galleries from November 8-10 at Thomaston, Maine.

Moshe Oved lion ring

Moshe Oved silver ring, rare British petrol pump globe and William Gladstone’s grandfather clock – six auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week

25 October 2019

ATG’s selection of hammer highlights this week includes a silver ring by Moshe Oved that made 70-times estimate, a rare British petrol pump globe that doubled predictions and a longcase clock believed to have been owned by former British Prime Minister William Gladstone that chimed with bidders.

Categories

News