One of a pair of silver wine coolers sold within estimate at £14,500 at Duke’s auction.
Best-seller was a two-handled silver gilt oval tray to the well-known model by Digby Scott and Benjamin Smith, London 1806.
Weighing 220z and measuring (78cm) across its lion’s heads handles, it was chased with scrolls and urns and engraved with a coat of arms. The tray went to the London trade at a lower-estimate £40,000.
Equally imposing was a pair of wine coolers by Smith’s son, Benjamin Smith III, in 1821, the year he became free of a 13-year apprenticeship with his father.
The 10in (25cm) tall, 243oz coolers (one illustrated above) featured handles formed as prancing lions, cast floral borders and engraved with armorials, the pair had detachable liners and were another London trade buy, going within estimate at £14,500.
