It comprised many pieces that he had inherited from his father, Dr Kurt Ticher, who emigrated from Germany to Ireland in the 1920s. Kurt developed a keen interest in Irish Georgian silver, building up a large, important collection, some of it bequeathed to the National Museum of Ireland. Peter, his eldest son, continued to add to his collection throughout his life.
As befits the current market, prices were solid rather than spectacular.
Estimated at £7000-9000 at the auction on July 28 but sold a little under hopes at £6000 was a George III silver-gilt freedom box by Carden Terry & Jane Williams, Cork.
Dated 1798, it is engraved with the Cork city arms and is inscribed for Major General William Loftus (1752-1831), a British army officer and later MP. A veteran of the American wars, he was appointed commander-in-chief in Munster in 1798 and was in charge of Laughlinstown camp during the Irish Rebellion that same year. It was sold with a related Freedom of the City of Cork scroll, inscribed to Major Loftus and dated 12th day of September 1809.
Also bearing Cork marks was a rare pair of snuffer scissors, c.1765, stamped Dermott Sterling for Michael McDermott (fl.1750-84). They sold at £2200, while a bullet teapot with wood handle and finial assayed in Dublin 1728 for William Clarke of Cork was hammered down at £4000. The latter had sold for £3500 at Bonhams in 2000.
Like the snuffers, a rare Dublin made wax jack had been pictured in Douglas Bennett’s Irish Georgian Silver (1972). It had marks for Thomas Walker, c.1735, with a scissor action plate on a pierced with band of scrolls and dots. It performed well enough, selling towards the top estimate at £4200.
The 58-lot collection made a premium-inclusive total of £87,678 with four pieces failing to find a buyer. More from the same source will be offered at a Home and Interiors sale at Knightsbridge in October.
