Weighing in at 4.75oz and decorated with applied gold foliage, ribbons, urns, musical trophies and various classical motifs, it was thought to possibly be the work of Joseph André Bologniel-Présidant, a Paris goldsmith specialising in boxes working in the final decades of the 18th century and to date from c.1780.
At this dating the inscription to the interior reading Sir Willm Barker Bart would most likely relate to Sir William Barker, the 4th and last Baronet from Bocking Hall in Essex. Estimated at £2000-3000 on January 16, it sold at £5500.
Name value
Tea caddy by Peter and Ann Bateman, £1100 at Lawrences of Crewkerne.
The names of certain silversmiths have long carried extra weight with collectors pushing prices for their work above the general level for such pieces.
The Bateman family of silversmiths are a case in point. Hester (1709- 94), who ran a silver-making London workshop for 30 years following the death of her husband John, was probably the best known female silversmith of her time.
Along with her sons Peter and Jonathan, daughter-in-law Ann and grandson William they amounted to a silver-making dynasty producing enough material to give critical mass to collectors.
An oval tea caddy decorated with bright cut engraving in a restrained neo-classical style typical of their work was marked for Peter and Ann and dated from 1793. It measured 7in (17.5cm), weighed 15.25oz and was fitted with an ivory bud final to the lid. The tea caddy sold for £1100 at Lawrences.
