Click on
Thumbnails
below

Description — clicking on underlined text brings up extra full size images of each piece

Stock number

A set of six unusually large Willem III Fiddle Thread pattern teaspoons and sugar tongs in original fitted case with retailers stamp of Bonebakker of Amsterdam. The spoons were assayed in Amsterdam in 1879 (2) and 1889 (4) and the tongs in 1879. All are engraved with the arms of Huyssen van Kattendijke and those of Van Limburg-Stirum (a bookplate bearing the Huyssen van Kattendijke arms beneath a coronet is attached to the base of the box).
Price: £750.00

The arms on these spoons and tongs are those of Karel Lodewijk Huyssen van Kattendijke (1845-1893) and Johanna Sara Countess van Limburg-Stirum (1844-1911) who married in Zutphen in Holland on 19th December 1872.

The Huyssen van Kattendijkes were descended from Adriaan Huyssen, Mayor of Goes, who died in 1575. His descendants were granted honours in France, England and the Holy Roman Empire during the course of the seventeenth century. During the following centuries the family held many local positions of power as Mayors and Aldermen of their home cities and In 1814 they were promoted to noble status in the Netherlands and Johann Willem (1782-1854) served as Foreign Minister of the Netherlands between 1841 and 1843.

The Van Limburg-Stirum family is one of the oldest in Europe- it is the eldest recorded branch of the House of Berg who ruled the Lower Rhine in the 11th century (and arguably to the Ezzonen family of Lotharingia in the 9th century). When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished, following its defeat by Napoleon, the family lost some of their influence but not their noble status. Like the Van Kattendijkes they were granted Dutch noble status in 1814 and held many political offices. The most prominent members were Leopold (1758-1840) who was one of the three men who invited King Willem I of the Netherlands to accept the throne in 1814 and Johann Paul (1873-1948) who was Governor General of the East Indies (1916-1921). He was later Dutch Ambassador to both Berlin and London. Finally Otto Ernst Gelder (d. 1942) was a member of the Dutch resistance in World War 2 (for which he was executed) and maternal uncle of Audrey Hepburn.

The makers of these spoons and tongs, Bonebakker of Amsterdam, are a prestigious firm now located in the Van Baerle Shopping Gallery in the Museum Quarter of Amsterdam. The firm was founded in 1792, and by 1802 the firm, then styled Bonebakker and Bennewitz, became one of the most prominent in the Amsterdam. By 1806 they were employed to create the silver keys presented to the city by Louis Napoleon, newly created King of Holland. In 1816, following the ousting of Louis Napoleon, the firm received a presitigious commission from his successor. They were asked to make a 419 piece dinner service for the new King's heir Willem, Prince of Orange, and his wife Anna, sister of Tsar Alexander I of Russia. When, in 1840, Willem ascended the throne he chose Bonebakker to make his Crown. The firm remains important suppliers to the monarchs of the Netherlands today.

A set of six George III teaspoons with masking spoon, by John Ewen (four teaspoons) and David Izatt (2 teaspoons and masking spoon), all initialled {JJG} .
Price: £450.00
John Ewen (active 1770-1821) was a prominent merchant in Castle Street, Aberdeen. David Izat was apprenticed to James Gordon of Aberdeen from 1786-1793. Izat then appears in the records of the Hammermen of Banff from 1794-1797 after which it is known that he returned to Aberdeen. Dr. James noted on page 119 of her book The Goldsmiths of Aberdeen 1450-1850 (1981) that 'since there is no information concerning [Izat] between 1797 and 1825, it remains possible that he did work on his own during this period, and that Aberdeen silver with his mark may exist'. This set of spoons, a rare survival, confirms the suggestion.

A George III 'Duty Drawback' hanoverian teaspoon with shell back, by Hester Bateman London 1784 (with the rare Duty Drawback or exportation mark), initialled {CAT} .
Price: £345.00
The 'Duty Drawback' or Exportation mark was struck on pieces during 1784-1785 to show that the pieces had been exported and the Duty paid on them reimbursed. However it was found that striking an incuse punch into completed pieces caused damage and the mark was discontinued after only two years. Consequently this is the rarest English hallmark.

A 'Darby Patent' bright-cut teaspoon by William Darby Sheffield 1785 .
Price: £345.00

In 1785 Sheffield silversmith William Darby patented 'a new method of mufacturing spoons and other articles'. This was, in essence, an early example of mass production. However only around 40 pieces bearing his mark have been recorded, all of which are hallmarked for 1785.

A fiddle pattern teaspoon, by J. J. Cohen of Sydney NSW circa 1840 crested for BOYD.
Price: £325.00

Although there were a number of members of this family in the colony at the time, the most prominent was Benjamin Boyd (1801-1851), an entrepreneur who, among other ventures, founded the Royal Bank of Australia. After some time prospecting in California, Boyd was returning to Australia when he stopped at the Solomon Islands to hunt game, an area he had once spoken of colonising. He never returned to his ship and his body was never found.
[For more detailed information, see the Australian Dictionary for National Biography]

A silver-gilt fiddle thread teaspoon with unusual thread heel, by Paul Storr London 1816, crested for George, Viscount Deerhurst (future 8th Earl of Coventry),.
Price: £245.00

George William Coventry (1784-1843) was, as eldest son and heir to the 7th Earl of Coventry, styled Viscount Deerhurst from 1809 until he acceded to the Earldom in 1831. He married Lady Emma Susan Lygon, daughter of the 1st Earl Beauchamp, in 1808 and, following her death Lady Mary Beauclerk, daughter of the 6th Duke of St. Albans, who had a dowry of £100,000. However he is often better known for his pursuit of the 13-year-old Sophia Dubouchet (the future Lady Berwick). Sophia's sister, the more famous courtesan, Harriette Wilson, reveals much about this in her memoirs including the fact that Deerhurst was 'a most profligate nobleman... [who] was unusually sparing of soap and water ... He dresses completely before he touches water'.

An oar-pattern teaspoon, by R.L. - perhaps attributable to Richard Lamb of Sydney, circa 1850, initialled {LJ}.
Price: £245.00

The mark on this spoon shows similarities to a mark recently attributed to Richard Lamb by John Houstone and the shape of the fiddle pattern and style of the initials do have precedents in known Australian flatware — see Early Australian silver by J.M. Houstone, pages 77-8

A Hanoverian 'Hearts of Oak' teaspoon with "British" on the back of the bowl , London circa 1760, initialled {N [over] I B} .
Price: £225.00

This patriotic pictureback features a design used on the medal produced by John Kirk for George III's coronation in 1760 (included for illustration only).

A George VI teaspoon with Celtic motifs and the bowl stamped with a dove and IONA, by Iona Celtic Art, Birmingham 1937 .
Price: £185.00

Alexander Ritchie (1856-1941) trained as a marine engineer and worked for the British India Steam Shipping Company but, when in Scotland, he attended the Glasgow School of Art. There he met Euphemia Thompson and they married in 1898. Two years later Ritchie was appointed custodian of Iona Cathedral and the couple began to produce silver derived from the stonework of Iona (and elsewhere in Scotland). From 1910 Ritchie had a hallmark in Chester and in 1931, he also registered at Birmingham assay office as 'Iona Celtic Art'. The Ritchies became a key part of disseminating Celtic design — their successors on Iona continue to do so to this day.

A feather-edge teaspoon with shaped stem and fluted bowl, London circa 1770 by IM (Grimwade 3658) for Jacob Marsh or John Moore, initialled {AJ} or {AT}.
Price: £150.00

Two spoons from this set formed part of lot 99 of the Gubbins sale in 2002.

A 'galleon back' teaspoon, by WT (attributed to William Tant) London circa 1760.
Price:

A William IV Old England pattern teaspoon, by Jonathan Hayne London 1835, initialled {MBB} .
Price: £125.00

2 spoons available

A George III Fiddle Shell pattern teaspoon, by Godbehere, Wigan and Bult London 1809, engraved on the back of the bowl {GOD be here} .
Price: £125.00
                                                                                              

The intriguing engraving on the reverse of the bowl of this spoon is likely to be a reference to Samuel Godbehere, the senior partner in the firm whose maker's mark is on it. Samuel Godbehere (c. 1755-1818) was elected an Alderman of the City of London in 1809 (the first member of the Needlemakers' Company to rise to this rank). He went on to stand for Lord Mayor in 1816, 1817 and 1818 but was unsuccessful on all occasions.

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon with feather-edged shoulders and a twisted stem, by IO London circa 1770 (attributed to Jonas Osborne active 1769-1774), crested with a horse's head .
Price: £110.00

2 spoons available

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon with feather-edge decoration on both sides (as well as the back of the bowl) and integral cartouche, by John Harvey I London circa 1770, crested with a demi-eagle pierced by an arrow in the cartouche and initialled {JMM} on the reverse .
Price: £110.00

2 spoons available

A George III Scottish fiddle pattern teaspoon, by Edward Livingstone of Dundee circa 1800, initialled {DB} .
Price: £110.00
The EL incuse mark on this spoon is not recorded in William Guthrie's 1994 Dundee Silver 1750-1850 or in Richard Turner's Directory of Scottish Provincial Silversmiths and their marks.

A 'Scottish fiddle' pattern teaspoon, by Lothian and Robertson of Edinburgh circa 1775, numbered 4 and crested for Steuart of Dalguise( Perthshire) . The initials CS are very likely to be those of Charles Steuart of Dalguise (1756-1821) .
Price:

Charles Steuart of Dalguise (Perthshire) was born in 1756 and died in 1821. He was directly descended from an illegitimate son of Robert II of Scotland (reigned 1371-1390). A later head of the family had served in the Royalist army under the Marquess of Montrose during the British Civil Wars of the 1640s. Charles's immediate family also had strong links to the Jacobite cause throughout the first half of the eighteenth century.

His grandfather, John Steuart of Dalguise (1689-1776), was a member of the Jacobite army defeated at the Battle of Sheriffmuir at the end of the 1715 rebellion. Charles married his first wife Grace Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart of Ballechin, in 1786. His father-in-law had served as an officer in the Jacobite army raised by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745. After Grace's death in 1787 Charles married Amelia Ann Sophia Oliphant, daughter of Laurence Oliphant of Gask. This time his father-in-law had been aide-de-camp to Bonnie Prince Charlie during 1745 campaign.

By the time Charles inherited the Dalguise Estate in 1785 the fear of Jacobitism had subsided. He was appointed the first Deputy Lieutenant of Perthshire by George III when the office was instituted in 1794.

By the late nineteenth century, Dalguise House was being let in the summer and from the early 1870s the family of Beatrix Potter were regular tenants. It was while staying there that she wrote the 'picture letters' on which 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' and 'The Tale of Jeremy Fisher' were based. Mrs. Tiggy Winkle is also believed to have been inspired by the washerwoman at Dalguise.

A George III 'Duty Drawback' Old English pattern teaspoon with bright-cut engraving (a.f.), by Hester Bateman London 1785, initialled {EGF} .
Price: £95.00

The 'Duty Drawback' or Exportation mark was struck on pieces during 1784-1785 to show that the pieces had been exported and the duty paid on them reimbursed. However it was found that striking an incuse punch into completed pieces caused damage and the mark was discontinued after only two years. Consequently this is the rarest English hallmark.

A George III Fiddle pattern teaspoon, by John Whelpley Cork circa 1810, initialled {RT} and crested with a wolf for a member of the Travers family (described as being of 'Cork' or of 'County Cork') .
Price: £90.00

The Travers family seem to have been prominent in Cork and there were several Roberts and a Richard in the first quarter of the nineteenth century- one candidate for the owner of this spoon would be Robert Travers, Attorney of Cork who appears in the trade directories and married Harriet Belford in 1809.

A Victorian Adelaide pattern eggspoon, by George Adams London 1852, initialled {G} .
Price: £85.00

A George VI teaspoon with the die-cast crest of Imperial Chemical Industries, by Arthur Price and Company Limited Birmingham 1938
Price: £85.00
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was founded in 1926 by the merger of Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives, the United Alkali Company and the British Dyestuffs Corporation. The company produced a very wide range of chemical products, including paint, dyes, fertilisers and insecticides, and had a turnover of twenty seven million pounds in its first year.

The crest on this spoon was used by the Company for advertising ─ including on playing cards an example of which accompanies this spoon ─ but it is possible that this spoon was made for use within the Company (perhaps in the board room).

A pair of Old English teaspoons with bright-cut cartouches and initials - one York 1798 by Hampston and Prince; the other London 1797 by Eley and Fearn.
Price: £80.00

The bright-cutting on both these spoons is similar to that on a pair of sugar tongs assayed in York between 1801-1804 (see Michael Baggott's 'Illustrated Guide to York Hallmarks 1776-1858' [2010], figure 294) and could thus indicate a link between the silversmiths of London and York
2 pairs of spoons available

A Louis XV pattern teaspoon made in London in 1860 by John Samuel Hunt crested with a bull's head out of a coronet.
Price: £75.00

2 spoons available

An Irish fancy front teaspoon with scroll back, Dublin circa 1775 by RL.
Price: £75.00

The mark is noted in Jackson's Silver and Gold Marks (p. 654) but not associated with any specific maker

A Victorian teaspoon with twisted stem, shell bowl and cast finial decorated with a Satyr's head, by William Eaton London 1842, initialled {JTT} .
Price: £65.00

2 spoons available

A Hanoverian teaspoon with fancy back, by Henry Daniel London circa 1780, initialled {L} [over] {MD}.
Price: £65.00

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon, by Samuel Green of Cork but assayed in Dublin in 1811, {RT} and crested with a wolf for a member of the Travers family (described as being of 'Cork' or of 'County Cork') .
Price: £58.00

The Travers family seem to have been prominent in Cork and there were several Roberts and a Richard in the first quarter of the nineteenth century- one candidate for the owner of this spoon would be Robert Travers, Attorney of Cork who appears in the trade directories and married Harriet Belford in 1809. Interestingly the engraving of the crest and initials would appear to be by the same hand as that on a Fiddle pattern teaspoon owned by the same man- our stock number 7285.

A George III Old English Feather-edge and Cartouche pattern (Carrington Shield) teaspoon, London circa 1770 probably by Hester Bateman, initialled {SH} .
Price: £52.00

2 spoons available

A Victorian fiddle pattern teaspoon, by Emidio Critien Malta 1856, engraved with the crest and motto of the Ireland family above the initials WKI for Captain Wynder Kelly Ireland RN (1826-1856).
Price:

Captain Wynder Kelly Ireland RN (1828-1856) was the son of Captain Richard Ireland CB of the British Army. He was born at Roscommon in Ireland and entered the Royal Navy as a Gentleman's Cadet with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on 17th December 1844 and, having spent 3 months at the Royal Naval College. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in 1848 and served on several ships before being posted to the Baltic in 1854. His Naval record (a copy of which is available with this spoon) shows that he 'served in the Black Sea [aboard H.M.S. Hannibal], from November 1854 to April 1855. Engaged in the nightly attacks against the sea batteries of Sebastopol.. [and] served [aboard H.M.S. Gladiator] in the Flying Squadron under the Command of Sir H. Stewart at the atttack and capture of the forts on Kinburn Spit in October 1855' as well as in the Blockade of Odessa. He was promoted to Captain on 22nd March 1856 and returned to Portsmouth via the Mediterranean where both H. M. S. Hannibal and H. M. S. Gladiator are recorded after the Crimean War. He died of apoplexy on 17th December 1856.

A George III feather edge and cartouche (Carrington Shield) pattern teaspoon, London circa 1780, initialled {JT} .
Price: £48.00

2 spoons available

A George IV Fiddle pattern teaspoon, by John Coakley Chester 1829, initialled {RED} .
Price: £45.00

2 spoons available

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon with feather-edge border, by Hester Bateman London circa 1770, initialled {B [over] I E} .
Price: £45.00

4 spoons available

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon with bright-cut engraving, by Daniel Urquhart and Napthali Hart London 1792, initialled {EJ} .
Price: £30.00

2 spoons available

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon, by (Sir) Edward Thomasson Birmingham 1816, initialled {C [over] TE} .
Price: £30.00

4 spoons available

Sir Edward Thomasson (c. 1769-1849) was the son of a bucklemaker but apprenticed to Matthew Boulton (1728-1809). He took over his father's business around 1793 and greatly expanded the range and scale of goods he produced. In addition to his business career he served as High Bailiff of Birmingham in 1818 and Vice-Consul for the town of Birmingham for the governments of Russia, France, Prussia, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Sweden and Norway and received Orders of Chivalry from these and other nations. He received his British knighthood in 1832.

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon by Peter and William Bateman London 1814, initialled {TM}.
Price: £28.00

2 spoons available

A George III Old English pattern teaspoon with bright-cut decoration, by Richard Crossley London 1796, initialled {E} .
Price: £25.00

5 single spoons available

A George III fiddle pattern teaspoon, by Samuel Neville Dublin circa 1805, engraved with the crest and motto of Hanmer .
Price: £25.00

A George III Old English teaspoon, by Jonas Osborne London circa 1770 .
Price: £22.00

2 spoons available

A bright-cut teaspoon by George Gray overstriking another (probably Peter, Ann and William Bateman) London 1804.
Price: £22.00

The combination of the Duty Mark and the date letter on this piece show that it was assayed between 30th May and 10th October 1804.