Silver & Silver-plated items

Whether it is a collection accumulated by a family often over generations or amassed through the efforts of an individual, such sales can deliver big results - especially now for regional auction houses winning consignments

A set of six rare Scottish provincial silver trefid spoons dating from c.1686 were not only among the earliest Glasgow-made spoons recorded, but also appeared to be the only extant work by the goldsmith George Luke.

DC Silver is a Washington, DC based e-commerce business specialising in antiques. ATG spoke to its proprietor, Nate Ivey

Encouraging results of two-day sale in Colchester suggests the traditional quiet period provides good selling opportunities

I was very interested to see your story on the gold medal for the Paris Exposition Universelle 1900 (News, ATG No 2654).

A rare James II and Queen Mary of Modena silver medal commemorating a Spanish shipwreck recovered in 1687 sold for four times the top estimate.

The inaugural Aubreys (25% buyer’s premium) live auction was held in the grounds of Loseley Park in Guildford.

A 1659 original silver chalice worth around £15,000 has been stolen from a church in Sutton, Bedfordshire.

This table lighter offered by Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) of Glasgow in the Summer Two Day Fine Art & Antiques Auction had marks for the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co, London 1916, making it one of the earliest of its type.

New Orleans dealership MS Rau has acquired 222 pieces of English silver from the collection of Texan businessman Billy Joe ‘Red’ McCombs (1927-2023).

A Henry VIII silver and parcel gilt apostle spoon, stamped to the stem with a distinctive maker’s mark of a heart in a conforming heart and dated London 1532, caused quite a stir when it appeared at Canterbury Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

A striking pair of William IV silver open salts by Paul Storr (London 1835) came for sale at Chorley’s (28.2% buyer’s premium inc VAT) latest biannual sale of Fine Jewellery, Silver, Gold and Watches.

A rare example of Norfolk Charles I silver – a seal-top spoon made by the patriarch of the famous Haslewood silversmithing dynasty – sold for £3600 at a recent sale of Silver and Objects of Vertu at Chiswick Auctions (26% buyer’s premium) in London.

The market has certainly been challenging but recent results allied with metal prices give encouraging grounds for optimism

As previewed in ATG No 2648, Bonhams’ Fine Decorative Arts sale at New Bond Street on July 5 featured this rare Elizabethan silver-gilt tankard, London 1592, with maker’s mark 'IB' possibly for John Brodie (Brode), or John Bottomley.

Dreweatts’ (26/25% buyer’s premium) Fine Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Objects of Vertu sale of June 18 offered only 35 lots of silver but all were good quality and many rare in form.