An extraordinary Victorian Silver-Mounted Green or Amber Glass Claret-Jug in the Form of a Squirrel sold for £36,000 in the Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale on 17th May (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). This charming piece was made in 1882 by Alexander Crichton, a Scottish silversmith who found fame creating whimsical novelty silver-mounted claret-jugs and scent-bottles in forms such as dodo, a walrus, and a crocodile. Tennants’ Silver Specialist Jeffrey Lassaline commented: “What a pleasure it was to handle such a rare and charming item. It was wonderful to bring to market a piece of silver that was last seen in November 1977, when it was sold at Sotheby’s, Belgravia for £820. It was fitting that the imagination expressed by Alexander Crichton in the early 1880s created an item which still resonated with buyers almost 150 years later and resulted in what is likely a world record price at auction for not only an example from his range of zoomorphic claret-jugs, but for a single work by Crichton too. It also serves as a testament to Tennants’ success in uncovering and bringing to market rare silver masterpieces, leading on from the Bache Cunard Testimonial which sold in 2024 for £100,000 to a rare Thomas Heming wine-jug which sold in 2021 for £20,000.”
The silver section of the sale sold incredibly well all-round; with only 6 lots unsold, the section achieved an impressive selling rate of 97%, and a third of the lots selling at or above the top estimate. Achieving a very strong price, too, was a George V Silver Copy of the Warwick Vase on a Silver-Mounted Ebonised Wood Plinth that sold for £16,000. The Warwick Vase, now in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, was discovered in the late 18th century by Scottish art dealer Gavin Hamilton at Hadrian's Villa in Rome. Having been documented and published by the celebrated engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi, in the decades after it was discovered it was to prove a popular form for silversmiths to copy.
Further notable results in the section included a George III Provincial Silver Divided Straining Spoon by John Hampston and John Prince, made in York in 1790 and marked with the York Town Mark (sold for £480), a George III Silver Soup-Tureen and Cover by William Bennett made in London in 1814 (sold for £3,200), and an Edward VII Silver Vesta-Case with Tinder Cord by William Frederick Wright, London, 1903 and engraved to the ‘Earl of Lonsdale, Lowther Castle, Penrith’ (sold for £480). From further afield was a Four-Piece Chinese Export Silver Tea-Service, that was retailed by Yok Sang of Shanghai and Chi Hua of Peking dating from c.1900, which sold for £2,200. From the Victorian era came a Victorian Silver Inkstand by John Samuel Hunt, London, 1855 (sold for £2,500), and a Victorian Silver Basket by Elkington and Co. Ltd. (sold for £2,300). Modern silver sold well, with an Elizabeth II Gold ‘Gem’-Set and Specimen Mineral Bird Ornament in the manner of Asprey selling for £3,700, and a Zimbabwean Silver Model of ‘Zolo’ the Baby Elephant by Patrick Mavros selling for £500.
Confident bidding continued across the Jewellery section of the sale; selling well were a Pair of 18 Carat White Gold Diamond Cluster Earrings (sold for £1,100), a Multi Gem-Set Necklace (sold for £850), a Pearl, Enamel and Diamond Bracelet c.1900 (sold for £700), a Sapphire Star Brooch circa 1880 (sold for £850), a Pair of Opal and Diamond Cluster Earrings (sold for £850), and a Silver Bracelet by Hans Hansen for Georg Jensen (sold for £700).
An 18 Carat Gold Digital Display Pocket Watch, made, circa 1910 lead the Watch section of the sale, realising a hammer price well above estimate at £1,900. Amongst the pocket watches, Rolex continues to be a dominant maker, and a 1940s Gold Filled and Steel Rectangular Rolex Wristwatch sold for £700 and a rare 1940s Stainless Steel Rolex ‘Sky Rocket’ Wristwatch made for the Canadian Royal Air Force sold for £650. Selling well, too, was a 1957 Omega 9 Carat Gold Wristwatch, which sold for £900, and a 1920s National Watch Co 18 Carat Gold Single Push Chronograph Wristwatch, which sold for £950.
The sale achieved a total hammer price of £271,090 with a 94% sold rate for 418 lots.
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