Silver & Objects of Vertu
The Silver and Objects of Vertu department is one of the largest departments at Tennants, offering over 3,000 lots annually across a range of specialist sales.
Spanning five hundred years of the silversmiths’ craft, Tennants regularly offers items by makers such as Paul Storr, Robert Hennell, Robert Garrard and the Bateman family as well as items by the top names in modern and contemporary silver design such as Gerald Benney, Stuart Devlin, Hector Miller and Brian Asquith. Tennants also has a strong market for provincial silver, such as York and Newcastle, as well as items from further afield, including Chinese Export silver and items by makers such as Fabergé.
Tennants has had the privilege of being charged with selling numerous notable collections, including silver from the vaults of Corby Castle, Cumbria. Offered for sale over several auctions in early 2026, the almost 600 lot collection realised a total of over £1m inclusive of buyer’s premium, and an outstanding 100% sold rate. Further important collections offered to great acclaim at Tennants included the Collection of the Late Anthony Phillips, former International Head of Christie’s silver department, and silver and objects of vertu from Swinton Park, North Yorkshire.
The department has recently sold some of the most expensive and important silver items offered outside of London, including the remarkable Sir Bache Cunard Testimonial, an important Victorian life-sized model of a fox. Weighing almost 16kg the testimonial was sold in 2024 for a hammer price of £100,000.
Handling consignments of all sizes, from important specialist collections to individual items of family silver, the department can advise you on current market values and guide you through all aspects of buying and selling silver at auction.
Tennants' Silver Specialist holds regular valuation days in our Harrogate Office. VIEW DATES
We are now inviting entries for our forthcoming sales. If you have items you would like to consign, please request a free valuation using the link below.
Department Specialists
Jeffrey Lassaline
Silver and Objects of Vertu Specialist
+ 44 (0) 1969 623780
jeffrey.lassaline@tennants-ltd.co.uk
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
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The Sir Bache Cunard Testimonial: An Important Victorian Life-Size Silver Model of a Fox, by Rowland Ward and Co., Ltd., London, 1888, Modelled by James Rowland Ward F.Z.S.
Sold for £100,000 -
A Rare Victorian Silver-Mounted Green or Amber Glass Novelty Claret-Jug, by Alexander Crichton, London, 1882
Sold for £36,000 -
A Russian Silver Table-Lighter in the Form of an Indian Elephant, by Fabergé, With Imperial Warrant, St Petersburg, 1899-1908
Sold for £21,000 -
A George II Irish Provincial Silver Chalice, by Richard Joyes, Galway, Dated 1730
Sold for £27,000 -
A Louis XV Portrait Miniature Set Gold Snuff-Box, The Snuff-Box by Pierre Siffait, Paris, 1763, With the Décharge of Jean-Jacques Prévost
Sold for £20,000 -
A George III Silver Wine-Jug, by Thomas Heming, London, 1765
Sold for £20,000
