Decorative Art

Election fever in the UK is behind us but collectors of political memorabilia might vote for a 19th century Spode electioneering jug for sale at the Long Melford Antiques Fair in the Memorial Hall on Wednesday, August 7.

This William III bronze wool weight cast with the royal arms is more than twice the size of most, weighing in at 14lb.

A 1659 original silver chalice worth around £15,000 has been stolen from a church in Sutton, Bedfordshire.

A new record for any English bottle was set at specialist saleroom BBR Auctions in Elsecar, South Yorkshire.

A surprise at a Hampshire saleroom on June 18 came in the form of a fine pair of early 19th century Chamberlain Worcester ‘Regent China’ cabinet cups in the French Empire style.

This table lighter offered by Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) of Glasgow in the Summer Two Day Fine Art & Antiques Auction had marks for the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co, London 1916, making it one of the earliest of its type.

New Orleans dealership MS Rau has acquired 222 pieces of English silver from the collection of Texan businessman Billy Joe ‘Red’ McCombs (1927-2023).

A Henry VIII silver and parcel gilt apostle spoon, stamped to the stem with a distinctive maker’s mark of a heart in a conforming heart and dated London 1532, caused quite a stir when it appeared at Canterbury Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

A striking pair of William IV silver open salts by Paul Storr (London 1835) came for sale at Chorley’s (28.2% buyer’s premium inc VAT) latest biannual sale of Fine Jewellery, Silver, Gold and Watches.

A rare example of Norfolk Charles I silver – a seal-top spoon made by the patriarch of the famous Haslewood silversmithing dynasty – sold for £3600 at a recent sale of Silver and Objects of Vertu at Chiswick Auctions (26% buyer’s premium) in London.

The market has certainly been challenging but recent results allied with metal prices give encouraging grounds for optimism

As previewed in ATG No 2648, Bonhams’ Fine Decorative Arts sale at New Bond Street on July 5 featured this rare Elizabethan silver-gilt tankard, London 1592, with maker’s mark 'IB' possibly for John Brodie (Brode), or John Bottomley.

Dreweatts’ (26/25% buyer’s premium) Fine Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Objects of Vertu sale of June 18 offered only 35 lots of silver but all were good quality and many rare in form.