Silver & Silver-plated items

Martel Maides in St Peter Port, Guernsey will sell a massive collection of Channel Islands silver on October 18, writes Roland Arkell.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Charlie King has reason to be proud of his performance at the Hingham Antiques Fair in Norfolk in August when he closed a deal for £900 on a 1906 Arts & Crafts silver tazza.

Although much less fashionable than they were, a set of silver candlesticks can nonetheless prove solid sellers as did these four, above, at Mallams’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Oxford on August 23.

A set of four Victorian kangaroos salts made by silversmiths Hunt & Roskell sold for Aus$70,000 (£42,000) as part of the Fairfax collection at Leonard Joel in Sydney on August 31-September 2.

So much more successful than their 18th century forebears, today’s Jacobites go from strength to strength.

With everything buzzing at Chiswick Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) ahead of the opening of the South Kensington showroom next week (see last week’s ATG No 2305), life at the west London rooms goes on providing a solid base for this ambitious expansion.

It was the 18th century Dutch silversmith John Schuppe who first popularised the silver cow creamer in Britain in the 1750s. Over the following centuries his design captured the imagination of the upper classes, who commissioned these novelty jugs in droves.

It may be pretty quiet on the auction front in Europe but Down Under the saleroom and fairs scene is in full swing.

Thieves in Chipping Campden have struck at the core of the Court Barn Museum’s collection of Arts & Crafts silver and jewellery.

Campaigners against ‘British’ hallmarking overseas have welcomed the launch of a consultation on the issue.

Despite their function, stirrup cups in the form of equine heads are a little harder to find than those of dogs and foxes.

A set of four silver-gilt candlesticks priced at £350,000 by Koopman Rare Art, were among the top sales on the opening day of Masterpiece London last week.