This mid-17th century unmarked silver skillet above is thought to have been converted to a single-handled porringer in America, where it was a popular item during the 18th century.
Chiswick Auctions’ silver and objects of vertu sale in west London on October 23 will include the piece, which has passed by descent from a family in New England.
Although catalogued as ‘probably English c.1650’, the auction house notes that its apparent lack of hallmarks may indicate it is all of American manufacture.
The 2in (5.8cm) high piece, scratch engraved to the side with initials IE between a fleur de lys, is guided at £300-500.
Alongside Aesop’s Fables and the Homeric epics, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales was one of the towering classics Elisabeth Frink (1930-93) illustrated with her etchings published in 1972.
The etching for The Physician’s Tale (one of the shortest of The Canterbury Tales) is included in a sale of modern and contemporary prints at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex on October 23.
The 19½ x 13in (50 x 34cm) etching, which features Frink’s trademark helmeted heads, is guided at £250-350.
In 1978, the World Wildlife Fund commissioned Tessiers of Bond Street to make 2000 silver bowls decorated with endangered animals such as the Indian rhino, Arabian oryx and polar bear.
Retailing at £700, the ‘Wildlife Silver Bowl’ was worked by the Royal Mint’s onetime chief-modeller Robert Elderton using illustrations based on drawings provided by wildlife artists Peter Scott and David Shepherd among others.
This example above, weighing 1.28kg and measuring 10in (26cm) in diameter, is on offer at Cotswolds auction house Tayler & Fletcher on October 18 guided at £300-500.
Terence Storey (b.1923) was first inspired to paint marine subjects after a visit to the Suffolk coast. He rose to become president of the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) and has exhibited regularly with the RSMA, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the New English Art Club.
On October 23, Bamfords in Derby will offer more than 100 marine oils and landscapes studies from Storey’s studio, with prices starting at £40.
A signed 2ft x 2ft 8in (61 x 81cm) oil on canvas depicting the cargo ship Ahmadu Bello docked at the port in Hull is estimated at £200-300.
