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Click here to subscribeSir Alan Smith, CBE, DFC, RAF Spitfire ace and Douglas Bader's wing man, a Free Czechoslovakian air force presentation paperweight, comprising an onyx tablet faced with a Czech pilot's white metal badge (tested as silver) and a plaque bearing the engraved inscription "F/L A J Smith from A V M K Janousek, C I G, 1 -1 1942", 15 cm x 8 cm
A Rare and Important Melon-Form Silver Handled Jar and Cover, Tang Dynasty (618-907)Raised on a short splayed foot, the eight-lobed globular body decorated with engraved panels including birds, deer, tiger and ram amongst blossom and foliage, all on a ring-punched stippled ground, the shoulder surmounted by a pair of recumbent mythical bixie beasts supporting a tapering D-section swing handle, the cover double-domed and rising to a tear-shaped finial.Height 17.3 cm Provenance: An old Scottish Estate, acquired prior to 1980 [Notes: This silver jar is an example of the fine craftsmanship and sumptuous tastes of the Tang Court. Despite China’s strong history of using silver in ornaments and smaller vessels, it was not until the 6th Century that this material was considered one of the premier luxury materials. The vessel was analysed at Oxford University and determined to be of very high fineness (99.7%), comparable with other Tang silver. Its design is unique in both its shape and decoration. The lobed form and depiction of fantastic beasts was introduced through trade along the Silk Road. Despite being used as Chinese decorative motifs since the Bronze Age, the two mythical bixie on the shoulders are also influenced by creatures from Central Asia. Assuming the form of a single-horn winged lion, these animals are known to ward off evil and bring wealth in the form of gold and silver coins to their owners. With its large size and attractive workmanship, this vessel would have been a prized possession within the Tang upper-class. The presence of a cover is quite remarkable, the double-dome and finial of which are reminiscent of a Buddhist stupa, offering up the possibility that this vessel was used for religious ceremonies in a high-ranking temple. For a similar container of this shape, see Carol Michaelson, Gilded Dragons, Buried Treasures from China’s Golden Ages, London, 1999, Fig. 82, a handled jar and cover at the Shaanxi History Museum. Both have similar rounded forms, swivel handles supported in the mouths of mythical beasts, and engraved depictions of animals and foliage, the latter lacking the lobed body of this specimen; an eight-lobed parcel-gilt silver and gold box sold through Sotheby’s London, 27 November 1973, lot 30, and another example published in Eskenazi’s Early Chinese Metalwork in Gold and Silver; Works of Art of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, London, 2011, page 33; the bold four-square stature of the deer can be compared to that of a repoussé standing rhinoceros on a silver dish sold at Sotheby’s London Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork, 14 May 2008, lot 59; and the large lush foliage can be compared to similar designs on a silver bowl and a bowl and cover that were sold in ibid., lots 53 and 64. The last three examples were all featured in Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953.]
A modern silver sculpture of a toadstool by Christopher Lawrence, textured and parcel-gilt, the cap lifting away to reveal a miniature scene, the latter in the form of a fairy and elf nestled amid mother-of-pearl mistletoe and holly, on a slate base, London, 1981, 15.5 cm
[ Fishing Interest ] A George V silver cigarette case, having engine-turned decoration and an engraved monogram, opening to reveal a presentation engraving to 'Arthur Pearman for Services Rendered to M. E. M Angling Club 1926-1948', LDB, Birmingham, 1946, 201.8g
An Indian white-metal five-piece cruet set retailed by Dass and Dutt of Calcutta, comprising mustard, salt cellars and pepperettes, each repousse decorated to the circumference with a continuous domestic and hunting scenes, tests as silver, 205.3g total (excluding glass lining)
A George V Scottish Arts and Crafts silver five-piece tea and coffee service by Sybil Norah Pringle, each with planished decoration and stylized ring-pull handles, the tea pot, sugar bowl and milk jug of oblate form raised over a cylindrical foot, Edinburgh, 1938, the coffee pot and hot water of ovoid form, Edinburgh, 1946, 2,388g total weight
An iconic Bjorn Weckstrom for Lapponia Finnish silver Darina's bracelet from the Space Silver Collection created in 1969, and famously worn by Princess Leia in the final scene of George Lucas's 1977 space epic Star Wars, bearing makers marks, and date letter for 1972, 37.9g
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