A fabulous set of 12 Victorian sterling silver teaspoons with matching sugar tongs, each of the 13 items has the UK Patent Office Lozenge Diamond registration mark, showing this design was patented. The pattern is a bright cut shell pattern, and is double struck (on both sides), this is a beautiful pattern that will glitter in candlelight. The quality is superb, the spoons around 25 grammes each. The set is perfectly preserved in it's original box, they do not appear to have been used. There is no engraving, these spoons are as pristine as the day they were made. All 13 items are clearly hallmarked with Sheffield Crown, Sterling Lion, date letter Gothic F and makers mark RM/EH in diamond punch, for Richard Martin and Ebenezer Hall, they used this mark between 1881 and 1911 (the firm was established in 1863). In addition, all 13 items have a clear diamond or lozenge registration mark for the British Patent office, this was used between 1842 and 1883, this is the second version of the mark used between 1868 and...

An 18th century Dutch silver salver, in the Louis XIV style, made by Gregorius van der Toorn in The Hague (Den Haag) in 1738. The salver is of almost square form, with moulded shaped corners with shell and scroll decoration and a stepped border, and sits on 4 curved shaped feet. An almost identical shell and scroll salver decoration is depicted in the book "Dutch Silver" by M.H. Gans, page 47, where this style of decoration is dated to 1730. The salver has 4 clear hallmarks, including makers mark G.T in oval punch for Gregorius van der Toorn, this mark is very clear, even showing detail of the indented font at the top of the G and T. The remaining hallmarks include crowned lion rampant Holland standard mark (fineness 934), The Hague (Den Haag or S Gravenhage) city mark (stork holding eel below coronet), this mark with slight wear on one side, and a clear date letter Q crowned for 1738. Gregorius van der Toorn was born in 1715, and became master in 1738, the year this salver was made. He died in 1771 after a l...

A pair of attractive and unusual Georgian silver salt cellars, with a lovely pattern created by numerous embossed ovals with circular eyes, with a textured matt pattern in between. The cellars have 4 cast silver shell headed hoof feet, with additional cast shell feet below the hooves. The cellars have irregular gadrooned rims, and gilded interiors. They are a substantial size and weight, over 160 grammes each, these are lovely quality. The hallmarks are clear, but the makers mark is partially worn on one cellar, and slightly worn on the other, but no doubt this is William Fountain (Grimwade mark 3127). William Fountain was freed in 1785, he had a long career and worked until 1825 (he used this mark between 1805 and 1825). He produced some notable silver, examples of his work are in numerous museums, including the V&A in London.

A magnificent Scottish kilt sash brooch, used to hold the shoulder plaid in place. The brooch has cast thistles and leavesin the outer rim, engraved celtic design in inner rim, surrounding a spectacular cairngorm (commonly known as citrine, also called black quartz or smoky quartz). The gemstone is very impressive, amongst the largest we have seen. It has been estimated at over 100 carats, and is a round brilliant cut. The hallmarks are clear, with makers mark R&HBK for Robert and Henry Bruce Kirkwood, who worked between 1882 and 1900. Scottish citrine is called cairngorm after its place of origin in the Scottish Highlands, and is the November birthstone, also the symbol of brightness, life and hope. Note - We sold a similar Scottish Silver Kilt Sash Brooch S 1372, this brooch S 1968 is larger, heavier and the cairngorm is also larger.

A fabulous quality gold and Diamond World War II Sweetheart brooch, for the Gordon Highlanders Regiment. The brooch has a textured 9 carat gold stags head with impressive antlers, green cabochon eyes (we assume emerald) and two red faceted stone nostrils (we assume ruby). The stags head is surrounded in a wreath of 18 leaves (white 9 carat gold), each leaf contains a diamond, and sits above a crown (which also contains 5 diamonds, so 23 diamonds in total, all are present). The regimental motto "BYDAND", translated as "Stand and Fight", in gold letters set in blue enamel sits in a gold scroll at the base. The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark J.W.B, 9 and .375 indicating 9 carat gold, anchor town mark for Birmingham and date letter R for 1941. The pin is also hallmarked 9 .375 indicating it is also 9 carat gold. John William Barrett was a manufacturing jeweller who worked between 1903 and 1953, a number of other high quality sweetheart brooches are known by him, so we assume this was an area of spec...

A Rare Set of 6 Liberty & Co. Japanese Sterling Silver Gilded Octopus Teaspoons, made by Sadajiro of Musashiya (Yokohama), these were amongst the first silver items imported by Arthur Lasenby Liberty for his Liberty Arts & Crafts Department store. The spoons have octopi finials, bamboo cane handles, and ormer (abalone) shell bowls, what is remarkable is that each octopus is different. The octopi have been described as "comical, scratching their heads or frowning, adding a wonderful touch of humour" - Simon Moore, Artists Spoons, page 50. The spoons are beautifully gilded, and retain much of the original gilding, their is slight wear on the handles from use. This gilding of the entire spoon is unusual, we have seen other sets without gilding and one set with gilded bowls only. The spoons are well preserved in their original wooden Liberty & Co. box, with green plush velvet interior and green leather exterior with the Liberty logo stamped in gilt lettering, it reads "Liberty & Co. Ltd. Jewellers 218a Regent St....

A fabulous Tiffany Sterling silver Indian Chrysanthemum soup ladle, in excellent condition, it does not appear to have seen much use. The pattern is truly beautiful, double struck on both sides, with a vacant cartouche for initials or a family crest (this has never been engraved). The bowl is also fluted and has a scalloped edge. The soup ladle is clearly hallmarked "TIFFANY & Co STERLING PAT.1880.M, the M indicates this is an early piece (the pattern was produced from 1880-1934). This must be one of the most beautiful example of hallmarks, with the design wrapping over and through the hallmarks. The soup ladle weighs over 350 grams, so quite hefty to hold, needless to say the quality is excellent. Indian Chrysanthemum has been described as "one of the most magnificent and celebrated sterling silver designs of the 19th century. Chrysanthemum represents one of the last great designs of the Victorian period" -(www.replacements.com), it was designed by Charles Grosjean. "Master silversmith Charles T. Grosjean jo...

A rare early Georgian silver brandy saucepan or warmer, made in 1727 in Plymouth by Richard Freeman, and hallmarked in Exeter. The brandy saucepan is the traditional baluster shape, with a short beak shaped spout at right angles to the handle, with decorative silver ball underneath, and a concave base which has preserved the hallmarks. The turned wooden handle is securely fastened with a brass pin, the silver handle has a tear-drop shaped reinforcing plate where it connects to the pan. The handle has a thumb sized slice out of the wood on the side, we assume done by the original owner to improve the grip. The hallmarks are excellent, and include makers mark R.F in shaped shield (makers mark M50 in the book "West Country Silver Spoons and their makers 1550-1750", by Tim Kent, page 90, where he describes Freeman of Plymouth as "a prolific local goldsmith whose career extended over 50 years" (1701-1753). He was admitted to the Freedom of Plymouth in 1719, and entered this particular mark in Exeter in 1720 (the n...

A magnificent Highland Light Infantry antique silver kilt sash brooch, used to hold the shoulder plaid in place. The brooch has the monogram HLI inside the Infantry French bugle horn, set on the diamond cut Star of the order of the Thistle, with Imperial King's crown above, and "ASSAYE" scroll and elephant below. This is surrounded by a thistle wreath with 30 battle honours, all earned before 1914, these include: "Carnatic, Hindustan, Sholingur, Mysore, Gibraltar 1780-83, Seringapatam, Assaye, Cape of Good Hope 1806, Rolica, Vimiera, Corunna, Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos' Almaraz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula, Waterloo, South Africa 1851-2-3, Egypt 1882, Tel-el-Kebir, Modder River, South Africa 1899-1902". The wreath is surrounded by an engraved scrolling border. The HLI monogram, crown, Assaye scroll and Elephant are all gilded, the gold colour stands out against the silver background, this is a lovely feature. The brooch is made with from 3 sep...

A lovely commemorative Scottish silver box, beautifully engraved on the lid with 3 different armorials. The sides of the box are decorated with an attractive flower, leaf and bow design, and the interior is silver gilt. The inscription reads "From Friends at Archers Hall to Charles Stewart, Match Secretary, 1891-1901, 22nd October 1901." Archers Hall was built in 1777 for the Royal Company of Archers, the oldest surviving company of longbowmen in Britain. Today a private club, they provide the bodyguard for the sovereign in Scotland (ceremonial today). Members must be Scottish, and are drawn from politicians, military officers and nobility. They compete annually for the "Edinburgh Arrow". The central coat of arms, with motto "Nobilis Ira" (Noble Wrath), has the shield topped with Peers helmet and demi lion rampant. This is the coat of arms of the Stewarts. The armorial to the left is the Royal coat of arms as used in Scotland, but unusually with the English motto "Dieu et Mon Droit" (God and my Right). The 3...

A magnificent and rare Dutch silver tea caddy, octagonal with baluster shape, with pull off domed lid with 4 sided pointed terminal. The caddy has lovely decoration, combining flowers, shells and acanthus leaves in a simple but effective style. The decoration is all hand engraved, and is a little crude. The caddy is well made and is a good weight, individual hammer marks can be seen on the inside. The caddy is quite small, as is usual for these early octagonal baluster tea caddies, when tea was an expensive commodity. Tea would have been poured from the caddy directly into the teapot, this style pre-dates caddy spoons (Delieb, Investing in Silver, pg 27, where an English version of similar style to this caddy is depicted). The hallmarks are clear and include date letter V for 1754, makers mark V.M in heart for Andreas Cornelis Muller (Schadee, Zilverschatten, Drie Eeuwen Rotterdams Zilver, pg 233), citymark for Rotterdam, Dutch lion assay mark (935 silver, this is higher grade silver than sterling 925 stand...

A rare surviving matched set of 12 Georgian Irish silver knives in the Fiddle, Thread and Shell pattern, 6 are table knives and 6 are dessert knives. The knives are in good condition considering their age, and are suitable for use. The steel blades are in good condition, and quite sharp, we believe these are later replacements fitted into the original silver handles, they are not marked at all. The pattern is repeated on both sides, and has shells at the top and bottom, with a scroll in the centre. We have described these as Fiddle, Thread and Shell, but have been unable to confirm this, all assistance welcome, other examples we have seen have no shell at the bottom of the handle, so perhaps this is a different pattern or an Irish variant. Both sets of six are a set, whilst both sets are the same pattern, there are a few differences, hence our description a matched set, the 2 sets of 6 were matched together at some time. The 6 table knives have no engraving, the 6 dessert knives have a beautiful engraved fam...

A fabulous set of 2 serving spoons with matching sifter ladle, with magnificent cast terminals featuring Mr. Punch with truncheon, jesters hat and humpback, and Judy his wife, holding the baby, the 3rd character is Toby the dog, complete with ruff and feathered hat. The cast figures sit on a seal top pedestal, the spiral twist handles are hollow, with a central ball grip, joined to the bowls with acanthus leaf drops. The serving spoons have oval shaped bowls, please note the spoon bowls have been re-gilded. The sifter bowl has scroll, diamond and circular piercing, the original gilding both inside and outside the bowl is still in pristine condition. Overall these are fine quality spoons, amongst the best figural castings we have seen on a spoon, we love these spoons. All 3 spoons are clearly hallmarked for London 1895 by Horace Woodward & Co. Ltd, they worked between 1875 and 1916, primarily from Birmingham but also from Hatton Gardens, London. In addition both serving spoon bowls have pattern number 9685 on ...

A Dutch antique silver pipe lighter (Zilver Pijpenkomfoor), made by Jacob van Nieuwcasteel in Utrecht in 1797. The silver frame is circular, beautifully decorated with pierced flowers and a reeded design, on 3 legs. It is fitted with a copper dish, which is fastened to a wooden mahogany base with 3 feet, by an iron screw with 2 leather circular nuts. The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark IVN, Utrecht town mark struck twice (grote keur), and date letter Z for 1797. A very similar pijpenkomfoor, made by Jacob van Nieucasteel in 1816, is present in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, described as follows "Pijpenkomfoor van zilver op blad van mahoniehout en met binnenbak van rood koper. Gewelfd en aan beide zijkanten iets oplopend. Vier gebogen poten, Jacob van Nieuwcasteel, 1816". Van Nieucasteel worked between 1790 and 1818, his work is preserved in numerous museums. These items are also found in the Cape made by Dutch silversmiths, referred to as "Tessies".

A fabulous quality Royal Fusiliers City of London Regimental sweetheart brooch, with 77 diamonds set in Platinum and 9 carat gold. The badge consists of a Fused (or smoking) Grenade, above a Tudor rose enclosed by Royal Garter, with motto "Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense", translated "evil to him who evil thinks", surmounted by Royal crown. The grenade has 63 diamonds, the rose has 11 diamonds, gold lettering surrounded by blue enamel, and the crown has 3 diamonds and red enamel. The pin, clasp and hinge are all solid 9 carat gold, the diamonds are set in platinum. The brooch is hallmarked "9Ct" for 9 carat gold, and "PLAT" for platinum. Platinum usage in high end quality jewellery only commenced at the turn of the 20th century during Edwardian times, it's usage had died out by World War II due to expense, so we can date this brooch to either the Boer War or World War I. The Royal Fusilier (or 7th Regiment of Foot) regiment dates back to 1685, and has seen service in the American War of Independance, Napoleonic War...

A fabulous set of 12 Scottish Provincial dessertspoons in the Fiddle pattern, made by Rettie & Son in Aberdeen in 1837, and hallmarked in Edinburgh. The spoons are good quality, and in remarkable condition, they have not been used much, 11 are perfect, 1 has a very small dent to the bowl. The spoons are engraved with original owners initial W. All 12 spoons are clearly hallmarked "R&S A B D" for Rettie and Son, Aberdeen, alongside full Edinburgh hallmarks for 1837, with William IV duty mark. Middleton Rettie and his son William started the business in 1824, supplying quality goods from 151 Union Street to wealthy Aberdeen citizens. They were joined by other brother James in 1847, and traded until 1892. They are known for extremely high quality items (Michael Wilson, Aberdeen Silver, page 56), these spoons are no exception. Note - We have a matching set of tablespoons S11345.

A very rare set of 4 Palm pattern soup spoons, made by George Adams of Chawner & Co, who were the most important mid 19th century firm of spoon makers (Pickford, Jacksons Hallmarks, pg 56). The spoons are exceptional quality and weight, just under 100 grammes each, they are a joy to hold. The spoons are engraved with the original owners initials, "JK & CK". The Palm pattern is described as "very rare, produced by Chawner & Co, in whose pattern book it appears" by Pickford in his book "Silver Flatware, pg 148". The book also has a photo of a Palm pattern fork and spoon from the V&A museum. The spoons are beautifully made, with good detail on the palm leaves. The hallmarks on all 4 spoons are extremely clear, marked on the bowl to prevent damage to the pattern. Two interesting journeymans marks are also present, 3 dots and K, probably the craftsmen involved in making the spoons. A Palm pattern tablespoon sold as lot 73, Finial postal auction January 2012. Please note we also have a Palm pattern butter knife, S1...

A beautiful Dutch silver chestnut vase, possibly made in the late 18th century by Hendrik Jurrien Wolters in Zutphen. The vase is urn shaped, on a stepped and reeded oval base, with matching reeded rim. The lid has an ivory oval baluster finial, capped with a silver ball, and the faint remains of an engraved crest and owners initials. The interior of the lid is gilded. The base interior has no gilding or engraving. The base has 3 hallmarks, cross (possibly Zutphen town mark), head or tree mark (similar to English Georgian duty mark), and makers mark HI or IH, or possibly even HP. We have tentatively identified this as Zutphen, given the similarity of the cross to the Zutphen town mark, and Hendrik Jurrien Wolters, who used a mark HIW (all assistance welcome). Previously this vase was described as Indian Colonial or Cape Silver by a Cape Town based auction house, we prefer the Dutch attribution, we even considered the vase could be Dutch Colonial in origin. This vase was also previously described as a tea cad...

Early sealtop spoon with squat fluted baluster terminal, engraved with original owners initials VV (or W). These initials are repeated on the bowl above the hallmark. The stem is hexagonal and tapered, and the V joint attaching the finial is clearly visible. The bowl has deep concave sides, and curves steeply from the base of the stem. The stem has 3 hallmarks at the base, a clearly visible "orb and cross" makers mark, and worn marks indicating lion passant and date mark S. The bowl has the usual towmmark, but this is worn, with only the outline visible. This spoon comes complete with an original receipt from H Perovetz Ltd of London, who sold it to Mr McCay of South Africa in 1979 for 700 pounds. The receipt and original Perovetz tag confirms the maker and date, and refers to Jackson pg 105 and How pg 228, plate 8. (Note: In our previous description we had mentioned some doubt about the London attribution, suggesting the makers mark could possibly be the Cobbold's of Norwich, given the shape of the shield ...

A fabulous early Georgian (George II) silver sauce boat, one of the best we have seen. The sauce boat is an exceptional size and quality, tipping the scales at 492 grammes (17.4 ounces), and is wider and shallower than later examples. The sauce boat has Rococo decoration, with engraved swirling shells, flowers and scrolls, it also has an intricate diamond pattern which is also hand engraved. The 3 cast shell feet are also fabulous, with a scroll between shell foot and shell attachment. The leaf capped double scroll handle has also been cast and applied. The sauce boat has a Rococo family armorial (3 wheat sheaves and a cross) on one side and a family crest on the other, consisting of a lion rampant holding 2 wheat stalks. The Sable a cross potent is the Alleyn family, in this case the arms of the wife, we have not yet identified the arms of the husband. It may possibly be the Lidsel family from Essex, Gules three garbs argent. This sauce boat is accompanied with the Heraldic report identifying the Alleyn fami...