The Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 10th January, which will feature over two hundred lots of silver and objects of vertu dating from the 18th to the 20th century, including pieces by makers such as Augustin Le Sage, Robert Garrard, Christopher Dresser, Hunt and Roskell, Georg Jensen and Fabergé. The sale is led by a wonderful and extensive a French Silver Table-Service, which is applied with initials below a coronet (estimate: £8,000-12,000) and by an Edward VII Silver Epergne. Made by Thomas Bradbury and Sons Ltd. in 1903, the George III-style epergne weights almost 4kg and was presented to John Hepper Esq. by the Members of the Yorkshire Branch of the Auctioneers Institute (estimate: £4,000-6,000 all figures exclude buyer’s premium).
Rarities in the sale include a George II Scottish Silver Teapot by John Main of Edinburgh in 1738 and the Assay Master Archibald Ure (estimate: £700-1,000) and a rare Colonial Silver Waiter marked for Jamaica and made in the mid-18th century (estimate: £300-500). There are also several items relating to Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale in the sale, who was the nephew of the second earl who died without an heir in 1872. Most of the pieces in the sale are hallmarked for the year he succeeded his uncle, presumably made to celebrate the event. Amongst the items engraved with his crest is a Set of Six Victorian Silver Dinner-Plates by John Hunt and Robert Roskell (estimate: £4,000-6,000). Tennants have seen a number of interesting items made by Fabergé over the last few years, perhaps most memorably the charming Elephant Table-lighter that sold for £21,000 in 2023, and in 2026 will offer for sale a Russian Silver Gilt and Bowenite Bell Push by Fabergé (estimate: £1,500-2,500).
