Sotheby’s has partnered with Alan Bedwell, owner of vintage accessories gallery Foundwell, to curate a selection of barware and related silver items. The online sale, which runs until May 21, is titled 100 Years – Prohibition in America in acknowledgment of the date, 1920, that the prohibition of the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic drink commenced in the USA.
On offer will be a variety of cocktail shakers and sets, claret jugs, decanters, ice buckets, beakers and other drinking accoutrements by a variety of American, English and Continental European makers.
Among the pieces on offer will be an American silver-plated golf-themed cocktail set, comprising a cocktail jug and six small cups formed as golf bags. The set was created by George Berry in 1925 and manufactured by the Derby Silver Company in 1926. The estimate is $5500-7500.
A 15in (38cm) high American silver-plated cocktail shaker fashioned as a lighthouse from c.1927-29, made by the International Silver Co is another entry, guided in this instance at $3000-5000.
An American silver-plated cocktail shaker modelled as a lighthouse, $3000-5000 in Sotheby’s bar ware and accessories sale. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Another unusual item is a matching pair of rectangular glass decanters made by the English silversmiths Hukin & Heath in the 1920s and estimated at $5000-7000. As well as facet-cut stoppers, the decanters have lockable silver mounts to the neck.
A rare 1930s silver-plated double spirit flask disguised as a pair of leather covered binoculars is also on offer with an estimate of $800-1200. The binoculars were made by the English silversmiths James Dixon & Sons. The lens caps can be twisted off and filled with an alcoholic drink while the objective lenses on the reverse conceal two removable cups.
