This September’s Silver auction brings over 350 lots of silverware to the market, spanning four centuries and featuring works by some of the world’s most collected and respected silversmiths. We are delighted to be offering two fantastic private collections alongside star lots from Russia, Czechoslovakia, Italy, France and America, in addition to interesting provincial and contemporary items of British silverware. 

The first of the private collections to be offered (Lots 61 - 98) will be the property of the late Jane Sinclair Morpeth, which includes a contemporary Britannia silver bowl by the renowned British silversmith, Michael Lloyd and a lovely late 19th/early 20th century enamelled Russian silver box by Maria Semyonova. The sale also features a large and carefully curated private collection of over one hundred pairs of silver sugar nips, spanning several centuries and featuring interesting and unusual examples that follow the evolution in sugar nip design from the George II period to the 20th century (Lots 107-141).

Lots 107-141: silver sugar nips

Highlight lots in this sale include Lot 3, a large Italian silver pheasant-themed dish by Argenteria il Leone (Florence) and a heavy George III silver tea tray by Thomas Hannan and John Crouch (Lot 2). The impressive Italian dish is beautifully embossed with pheasants and wheat stalks and measures almost half a metre in length, while the George III silver tea tray weighs in at a hefty 125ozt and carries an attractive estimate of £2,000-£4,000. There is wide stylistic variety represented in the sale, from Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts pieces (including Lot 22, a bowl by Omar Ramsden and Alwyn Carr), to Japonesque silverware and both Classical and Contemporary items.  Collectors of silver spoons and flatware will also find many lots of interest, including 17th and 18th century trefid, dog nose and Hanoverian rat-tail spoons.

Lot 2: A George III oval silver tea tray. Thomas Hannan and John Crouch. London, 1807

Estimate: £2,000 - £4,000

Roseberys are pleased to be bringing to the market several interesting and unusual pieces including an early Victorian silver mounted dog collar formerly presented to the 2nd Earl Talbot’s prize-winning greyhound (Lot 11), and a George III silver mug of maritime interest with an inscription relating to the ill-fated Steamship London (Lot 10).  The SS London earned the undesirable label of a ‘coffin ship’ when it sank on 12th January 1866, drowning almost all of its 220 passengers having been dangerously overloaded with cargo. The sinking of the SS London played a major role in reforming shipping by raising awareness of the lack of maritime safety regulations and the dangerous conditions on ships overloaded by unscrupulous ship owners for whom the overinsured ‘coffin ships’ were worth more sunk than afloat.

Lot 10: Of maritime interest. A George III silver mug. Lewis Herne & Francis Butty, London, c.1760

Estimate: £300-£500

Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Dutch, Iranian (Persian) and Mexican silver are also well represented in this sale, with notable examples including a pair of Mexican silver water jugs (Lot 33), a selection of French silverware by Puiforcat, and an Art Nouveau French parcel gilt silver basket (Lot 69).

Lot 33: A pair of large Mexican silver water jugs. Juventino Lopez Reyes, Mexico City, 20th century.

Estimate: £700 - £1,000

Roseberys will be holding its final Silver auction of the year on Wednesday 27th November.