Among these was a collection of nine pieces by the influential silversmith Omar Ramsden (1873-1939). All sold to private buyers, bar a pair of Deco 1932 silver-mounted hairbrushes. Never popular items among UK buyers, the pair went to an international dealer at £220, the only lot to sell below top estimate.
At the other end of the price scale were 12 plain planished dinner plates, 9in (23cm) in diameter, designed by Ramsden in 1932, 1933 and 1936. They took £12,000 against a very broad £5000-10,000 estimate.
More eye-catching was the 1937 silver elephant illustrated above, offered with a bronze version and two framed series of pencil studies for the 3in (7.5cm) tall beasts.
Each engraved Omar Ramsden Me Fecit to the underside of one foot, they were estimated at £5000-10,000.
They were commissioned by the vendor’s grandfather as a gift for his daughter and included with the lot was a touching letter from Ramsden’s widow to the recipient written a fortnight after her husband’s death.
Given the silversmith, the subject and the provenance, it was no surprise when the tuskers sold at the top of the estimate.
