SILVER
An impressive pair of ornate 20th century Spanish Silver Pots-à-Oille and Stands or soup tureens are to be offered in the Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 11th July with an estimate of £10,000-15,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). One of pots is marked for Muñoz Garrido, and the tureens are highly decorated in a marine theme, with mermaids, seahorses and crustaceans. From the preceding century, made in 1835, is a William IV Silver Soup-Tureen and Cover, made by William Ker Reid of London, this time decorated with foliate decoration and engraved with the arms of John Wodehouse, 2nd Baron (1771-1846), MP for Great Bedwyn and later Marlborough (estimate: £6,000-8,000).
Also with interesting provenance is a Set of Three George III Silver Condiment-Vases and Sifting-Ladles made in 1766 by Emick Romer, a silversmith of Norwegian heritage who settled in London, which bear the arms of Edward Drax (b.1732) and his wife Mary Churchill (1743-1820) (estimate: £2,000-3,000). With Robert Burns interest is a Victorian Scottish Silver-Mounted Oak Snuff-Box by Muirhead and Arthur of Glasgow. According to the inscription, the oak was taken from part of the roof of Alloway Auld Kirk, the 16th century shell of a church in village of Burns’ birth, now a suburb of Ayr. The church was the scene of the witches dance in Burns’ famous poem Tam o’Shanter, and the top of the box is inscribed with lines from another of Burns’ works, reading: “He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl, Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl” and “A fig or those by law protected! Liberty’s a glorious feast! Courts for cowards were erected, Churches built to please the priest”. The box was presented to a Mr William Elliot of Glasgow in 1844 and is being offered with an estimate of £200-300.
A good collection of Indian and Southeast Asian silver will also be on offer, to be sold in twenty lots. Highlights of the collection include a decorative Indian Silver Salver made in the first half of the 20th century and offered with an estimate of £800-1,200. Also hailing from the East is a mid-19th century Chinese Export Silver Jug retailed by Cum Shing of Canton, one of the longest extant silver manufacturers from the region having originated in 1775, offered with an estimate of £800-1,200. Good modernist silver in the sale includes a German Silver and Amethyst-Set Canister and Cover made by Hayno Focken circa 1940, who was heavily influenced by the ideas of the Deutscher Werkbund and the Bauhaus (estimate: £800-1,200), and a Pair of Elizabeth II Parcel-Gilt Silver Candle-Holders made in 1970 by Stuart Devlin of London (estimate: £1,500-2,500).
