Features

Silver made in both Britain and the Continent provides a wide variety for buyers via auctions and dealers across the globe. Here ATG picks out a selection of 13 recent sales and upcoming lots.

A selection of early Continental silver from the 16th and 17th centuries was a notable feature of the Lempertz (25% buyer’s premium) decorative arts auction in Cologne.

Catalogued as French and late 19th century, this 5in (12cm) drinking vessel offered by Lisbon saleroom Renascimento appears to be an electrotype of the famous Warren Cup.

This pair of early 19th century Neoclassical Sheffield plated wine coolers proved to be one of the more sought-after entries in the Doyle (25/20/12.5%) sale of silver furniture and decorative arts in New York.

Among the sales series held by Koller (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) in Zurich in June that had been postponed from March was the single-owner auction of works from the Müller-Frei collection.

At the 19th century international exhibitions, the Viennese silversmith Hermann Ratzendorfer (1845-94) gained a reputation for his mixed-media works in the neo-Renaissance taste.

In Koller’s mixed-owner auction of furniture and decorative arts, it was a rare example of 18th century Italian silver that took centre stage.

It has been an undeniably difficult few months for antiques dealers with shops and centres shuttered and fairs cancelled. However, online events such as the recent ‘virtual’ 'Masterpiece' fair have helped generate some business, and many shops are now open under the usual restrictions.

Jewellery provided one of the great expressions of the Art Nouveau style. Here ATG reports on four exceptional items made in four different countries in the early years of the 20th century

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) – the first actress to achieve worldwide celebrity – continues to command attention as her work on stage and screen fades into the distant past.

Georges Lenfant is one of the many unsung titans of the jewellery trade – a Paris workshop pioneering jewellery craftsmanship in the 20th century that produced jewels for the big brand names of the Place Vendôme, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Mellerio dits Meller.

A recent sale at Dorotheum (28/25/22% buyer’s premium) in Vienna was topped by this spectacular diamond and aquamarine tiara-necklace by Cartier London.

Interest in glyphic art, that reached its collecting apogee during Grand Tour collecting, is resurgent once more.

This George III mourning ring is engraved 'W’m Tipping, aged 17, died 23 Aug, 1792'. He drowned while bathing in the sea at Blackpool.

Not only does this Dutch 18ct gold and white carnelian demi-parure c.1820 include a period case but the original handwritten invoice from 1824 survives.

Among the many successful online-only jewellery auctions that took place during the lockdown was that held by Bromley-based saleroom Catherine Southon (18% buyer’s premium), writes John Benjamin.

The hunger among buyers to acquire good quality jewellery stayed strong during lockdown, writes John Benjamin.

Archaeological discoveries were a continuous source of inspiration for jewellery in the 19th century. Ancient goldsmithing techniques were studied and relearned. Jewels found during excavations of Roman, Egyptian, Hellenistic and particularly Etruscan sites were copied or reinterpreted.

The Etruscan revival, that followed in the wake of the discovery of ancient gold jewellery in the 1830s, was the first and most popular of all the historical styles embraced by jewellers of the Victorian period.

Military uniforms reached their ornamental peak in the 19th century Western Europe – with the leaders of the day sharing in their ostentation