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Six George IV Hourglass pattern dessertspoons, by William Theobalds London 1829, crested for Sir Benjamin D'Urban (1777-1849) .
Price: £495.00

Sir Benjamin D'urban (1777-1849) was a career soldier who joined the 2nd Dragoon Guards as a cornet in 1793. He made rapid progress through the army and distinguished himself in the Penninsular War (1807-1814). During this conflict, during which he served in almost all of the major actions and requested no leave, he was seconded to the Portuguese army and served as Quartermaster General and Chief-of-Staff to General Beresford. By 1812 Brigadier-General D'Urban was in command of the Portuguese Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of Salamanca. He came home laden with honours from Britain- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order, the Army Gold Cross with five clasps- and he received the prestigious Order of the Tower and the Sword from Portugal.

In 1819 D'Urban was appointed Governor of Antigua and in 1824 of Demerera-Essequibo. When this territory was merged with that of Berbice to form British Guiana, an action spearheaded by Durban, he remained as Governor of British Guiana until 1833. In 1834 D'Urban was further promoted to the Governorship of the Cape of Good Hope, a post he held in conjuction with that of Commander in Chief there. It was during his tenure that the Dutch settlers migrated from their lands in what became known as 'the Great Trek' and he also had to contend with the Cape Frontier Wars of 1833-1834. Other actions undertaken by his administration were the abolition of slavery under his jurisdiction and the consolidation of British influence in Natal.

When, in 1835, a new city was planned in Natal the settlement was named after D'Urban and retains that name (Durban) today.

Five fiddle, thread and shell dessertspoons, London 1885 by Aldwinckle and Slater, crested with a demi griffin.
Price: £340.00

A George III silver-gilt Old English pattern dessertspoon, by Paul Callard London 1762, crested for James, 2nd Duke of Chandos (1708-1771) and his grandson-in-law Richard , 1st Marquess of Buckingham and later 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1776-1839).
Price:

This spoon was originally purchased by Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos (1708-1771) who was described by George II as "a hot headed, passionate, half-witted coxcomb". Chandos inherited an estate deeply in debt due to the losses the family had suffered in the falling stock market of the 'South Sea Bubble'. As a result the family's home, Cannons Place in Middlesex, which had only been completed in 1724 at a cost of £200,000. had to be demolished in 1747. The resulting architectural elements and stonework were sold as building materials and the site is now occupied by North London Collegiate School.

Chandos married three times- firstly to Lady Anne Bruce, daughter of the Earl of Ailesbury, and thirdly to Elizabeth Major, daughter of Sir John Major, Baronet. His second marriage, however, was less conventional. In 1744 he married Anne Wells who had been a chambermaid in Newbury. They met when she was being sold by her then husband in the yard of the Pelican Inn at Newbury where Chandos was staying. Chandos, taken with her beauty, bought her and subsequently married her (following the death of her first husband).

The second crest on this spoon is that of Richard Temple-Nugent-Grenville (1776-1839), 1st Marquess of Buckingham and later 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, who married the 2nd Duke of Chandos' granddaughter and heiress in 1796. Buckingham was part of the Grenville political dynasty (his grandfather serving as Prime Minister from 1763-1765, his cousin held the same office from 1783-1806 and his uncle from 1806-1807). He inherited all of the remaining Chandos estates and property, including this spoon through his wife and many other estates from his many relations. As the crest on the reverse of this spoon is underneath the gilding and accompanied by a Marquesses' coronet both the engraving of that crest and the gilding must have happened between 1813, when Buckingham inherited his Marquessate, and 1822 when he received his Dukedom.

However the wealth was short lived as nine years after Buckingham's death his son went bankrupt, with debts totalling over 1 million pounds, and the contents of the great house at Stowe (now the site of Stowe School) were sold by Christie's in 1848. This spoon appears to have been sold to Mr. Wells as part of lot 285, 286 or 287 of the seventeenth day of the sale- each lot contained 'Twelve plain [silver gilt] dessert spoons' (Wells bought all three lots).

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An Admiralty pattern dessertspoon with die cast crowned anchor, by Hunt and Roskell London 1865.
Price: £275.00

3 spoons available

A Celtic-point dessert spoon with wrigglework border, by Carden Terry of Cork circa 1790, crested for Sweet or Swete.
Price: £225.00
Branches of the Swete family held several estates in Counties Cork and Galway in the eighteenth century. However the main branch of the family appears to have been based at Greenville (formerly Kilglass), County Cork.

(6 spoons available)

An Admiralty pattern dessert spoon with die-cast crowned anchor crest, by William Theobalds London 1840 .
Price:

Admiralty pattern (Old English pattern with the die-cast crest of the Royal Navy) is rare and was supplied exclusively to the officers and wardrooms of Royal Navy ships and to the Admiralty from the late 1830s (the earliest recorded pieces are teaspoons of 1838. It seems to have been discontinued by the outbreak of the World War One. Each piece also carries the Broad Arrow mark to denote official issue.

A George III silver-gilt fiddle thread dessert fork and spoon, by George Smith (III) London circa 1775-1780, crested for ELLIS
Price:

These unusually early examples of fiddle, thread and shell carry two different GS maker's marks (the spoons with the GS in script registered by George Smith in 1774 and the forks with GS in capitals that is believed to appear in the mark registers missing from Goldsmiths' Hall). The appearance of these two marks on different parts of a flatware service using identical dies indicates that the GS mark in capitals was a second mark used by George Smith III (possibly registered between the end of his partnership with Thomas Evans in 1772 and the beginning of the new largeworkers register in 1773).

A George III silver-gilt Old English thread dessert spoon and fork, made in Dublin the spoon 1793, the fork 1797, engraved with the crest of the 1st Earl of Bandon (1755-1830).
Price:

Francis Bernard of Castle Bernard, near Bandon in County Cork was created Baron Bandon in 1793, Viscount Bernard in 1795 and Earl of Bandon in 1800. He sat in the Westminster Parliament from 1801-1830 as one of the original Irish representative peers.

A George III Old English pattern dessertspoon with Celtic point, by John Toleken of Cork circa 1800, crested on the handle for Lindsay of Maryville, County Cork and initialled {IL} on the heel.
Price: £155.00

4 spoons available

The initials IL are probably for John Lindsay of Blackrock and Maryville, co. Cork who died in 1802.

Two fiddle, thread and shell pattern dessertspoons, London 1894 by Slater, Slater and Holland crested with a demi griffin.
Price: £155.00

A Victorian Canova pattern dessertspoon, by George Adams London 1863, engraved {JACOB} on the cartouche .
Price: £135.00
Canova pattern was introduced by Chawner and Company in about 1850 and was exhibited at the Great Exhibition, the following year. The design of the pattern incorporates designs based on sculptures by Antonio Canova (1757-1822).

A George III Old English pattern dessertspoon with wrigglework engraving on both sides of the stem, by William Sumner and Richard Crossley London 1775-1781, crested with an ostrich on a chapeau for Co(o)ke .
Price: £125.00

3 spoons available

A George II Hanoverian pattern dessertspoon, London 1749 probably by TD (ascribed to Thomas Devonshire), engraved {Pickwick} inside the bowl, .
Price: £95.00

The unusual engraving in this bowl could relate to the Pickwick family who rose from humble origins to become prominent citizens of Bath in the 18th century. Moses Pickwick was a foundling discovered in the late 17th century in an area of Corsham (Wiltshire) known as Pickwick. In addition to being the primary investor in the Somerset Coal canal Moses' grandson Eleazer (b. 1749) ran a coaching business that came to be run from an inn just opposite the Pump Rooms in Bath called the White Hart (this was demolished in 1869) . The Inn was referred to by Jane Austen and it is believed that Charles Dickens took the title character inThe Pickwick Papers from the family who subsequently took the name of the more prestigious Sainsbury family from whom they were also descended.

A William IV Fiddle pattern dessertspoon with rat-tail, by Edward Power (retailed by Twycross) Dublin 1835, engraved {Cavan Grand Jury} .
Price: £85.00

County Cavan, an area once forming part of the Kingdom of Breifnie, came under Norman influence from the late 12th century and since the early 17th century has been part of Ulster.

A Grand Jury is a group of citizens empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A Grand Jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning. In Ireland Grand Juries were active from the mediaeval period onwards and mainly functioned as local government authorities at the county level (the jurors were usually drawn from the larger landowners and appointed by their peers).

From 1691 to 1793 Roman Catholics in Ireland were excluded from membership of a Grand Jury, irrespective of wealth, and from in 1840 the Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) weakened the power of the traditional membership. When the Local Government Act (Ireland) was passed in 1898 and saw the creation of democratically elected County Councils these took over many of the former functions of the Grand Juries. They were discontinued in Southern Ireland in 1922 and Northern Ireland in 1969.

A William IV Fiddle pattern dessertspoon with rat-tail, by Edward Power (retailed by Twycross) Dublin 1834, engraved {Cavan Grand Jury} .
Price: £85.00

County Cavan, an area once forming part of the Kingdom of Breifnie, came under Norman influence from the late 12th century and since the early 17th century has been part of Ulster.

A Grand Jury is a group of citizens empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A Grand Jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning. In Ireland Grand Juries were active from the mediaeval period onwards and mainly functioned as local government authorities at the county level (the jurors were usually drawn from the larger landowners and appointed by their peers).

From 1691 to 1793 Roman Catholics in Ireland were excluded from membership of a Grand Jury, irrespective of wealth, and from in 1840 the Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) weakened the power of the traditional membership. When the Local Government Act (Ireland) was passed in 1898 and saw the creation of democratically elected County Councils these took over many of the former functions of the Grand Juries. They were discontinued in Southern Ireland in 1922 and Northern Ireland in 1969.

An Old English dessertspoon, by Christopher Fly Woods and Thomas Filkin of London (active 1770-1775), initialled {S} .
Price: £85.00

When Judith Callard, widow of spoonmaker Paul Callard, retired from business around 1772, the business begun by her husband was continued by her son-in-law and her husband's former apprentice, Christopher Fly Woods and his business partner Thomas Filkin.

An Old English pattern dessert spoon, by Samuel Eaton London 1762, crested with a pineapple for PERRYN/PERRIN .
Price: £75.00

This spoon once formed part of a larger set, eight of which can be seen as stock number 5468 at the top of this page.

An Old English dessertspoon, by John Lambe 1779, engraved with the arms of Lucy Grey (neé Danvers) .
Price: £65.00

 The arms on these dessertspoons are those of Grey impaling Danvers. In 1748 the Hon. John Grey (c. 1728-1777), younger son of the 3rd Earl of Stamford, married Lucy Danvers, daughter of Sir Joseph Danvers 1st Baronet of Swithland. Hon. John Grey was MP for Bridgnorth (1754-1768) and Tregony (1768-1774) and served as Clerk of the Board of Green Cloth from 1754-1777.

A George III Old English pattern dessertspoon, by Stephen Adams London c. 1785 , initialled {WEM} .
Price: £60.00

This dessertspoon can be dated to after 1781, when the marks were moved to the top of the stem. It is interesting to note that the workman in the assay office left the space for the full stub including the date letter (and the duty mark if the spoon was manufactured post 1784) but appears to have applied the part stub in error.

An Old English dessertspoon, by George Smith and William Fearn London 1789, crested with 3 stalks of wheat- possibly for Scott-Moncrieff .
Price: £60.00
2 spoons available

A George III Old English pattern dessertspoon with later engraved decoration, by Thomas Chawner London 1774 .
Price: £58.00

An Old English dessertspoon, by William Eley and George Pierrepoint London 1777, initialled {MAC} .
Price: £55.00

William Eley and George Pierrepoint were only in partnership for a short time — between 11th November 1777 and 3rd November 1778 (when William Eley registered a new mark on his own).

A fiddle pattern dessert spoon, by James Barber George Cattle and William North, York 1827, crested with a demi-lion rampant holding a flag, azure, on which a cross Or.
Price: £55.00

Old English pattern dessertspoon, by James Braham (of Torquay) Exeter 1847, crested with a unicorn's head out of a mural coronet .
Price: £45.00

James Braham, a jeweller in Torquay, is only recorded as assaying pieces at Exeter in 1847-1848. He is recorded there, 'aged about 30', in the 1841 census and on 3rd October 1850 the Exeter Flying Post reported that: "One of our old (sic) townsmen Mr. Braham, jeweller, of the Strand, has retired from business, having by his industry amassed a competency wherewith to do without it. Mr. Bradford, of Teignmouth, has taken of the business."

James Braham was actually born in 1807 at Plymouth, the son of David Abrahams (1762-1840) and Rose Jacobs (1780-1842). He had two siblings: a brother George Isaac and a sister Esther. He married Henrietta Jackson (1810-1890) in Liverpool in 1854 and was buried there in 1873. In the probate records (which record an estate of £23, 754 6s 9d) he was recorded as being of 'Fairlawn, Central Hill, Upper Norwood, Gentleman'. He was buried in Liverpool.

2 spoons available