The vendor at the sale on April 28 was a descendant of the recipient, Sir Henry Russell, (1783-1852) 2nd Baronet.
It is inscribed A Tribute of Grateful Remembrance from the Officers of the Hyderabad Division of H.H. The Nizam's Regular Troops to Henry Russell Esquire.
Henry Russell, who sailed with his father to India in 1797, would ultimately become The British Resident at Hyderabad from 1810-20, and in 1816 he married Marie Mottet de la Fontain, daughter of the last French Governor of Pondicherry.
During this period he organised what was called the Russell Brigade, comprising 4000 of the Nizam's irregular cavalry under British command. It was in gratitude for this that the vase - decorated with cavalry offices meeting Indian troops - and elements of a Regency dinner service were presented to him.
An extract from a Russell family history written in 1901 at Swallowfield Park (where Henry Russell lived after his return from India until his death in 1852) gives a full history of the manufacture of this imposing vase.
"There is at Swallowfield a very handsome large gilt vase on a pedestal which was presented to Henry Russell by his subordinates and friends in India. Chantrey (Sir Henry Chantrey, Sculptor) was consulted for the design and chose a plate from Piranesi for the form of the vase. He then proposed that two different groups, capable of telling the story of what had led to the presentation of the vase, should be placed on two sides of it and that for the designs of those groups Stothard (Thomas Stothard RA) should be consulted. He suggested that a tiger should be placed on the centre of the lid, and elephant's heads at the four angles of the pedestals, and that instead of the imaginary serpent given in Piranesi on each handle, a real serpent should be modelled from life. When Stothard's designs and a drawing of the whole vase by Burney, a well-known artist of the day, where submitted to Chantrey, he approved entirely. The tiger, elephants' heads and the serpent were modelled from life by Bailey R.A."
The cost in 1822 was £1100.
The lid is sadly now missing but the vase and stand, with a total height of 2ft 2in (72cm) and weight of 546oz, still ranks among the finest silver lots ever to appear in a regional saleroom.
Estimated at £20,000-30,000, it was bought by London dealers Koopman Rare Art for £95,000 (plus 19.5 per cent buyer's premium).
