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Lot 406
Six Waltham military stopwatches with arabic dials in steel cases, the first stamped "1/5 Sec.T.P.", the second stamped "T.P. 1/5 Broad Arrow Mark", the third stamp "1/5 Sec.T.P. Broad Arrow Mark", the fourth stamped "1/5 Sec.T.P.", the fifth stamped "1/5 Sec.T.P. Broad Arrow Mark", the sixth stamped "1/5 Sec.T.P." (all none working).
Lot 14
A RARE IRISH PROVINCIAL SILVER SOUP LADLE, Limerick c.1785, mark of Maurice Fitzgerald, the pointed taper handle engraved with initials, (c.217.7g). 38cm longMaurice Fitzgerald, Mary Street Limerick, working 1760-1817. He is possibly the Maurice Fitzgerald, son of James Fitzgerald (no address given), who was apprenticed to Vere Forster, a Dublin goldsmith in 1752. He obtained his freedom of Limerick in October 1774. He served as bailsman in the Tholsel Court in 1787 and 1789. His advertisement in the Limerick Herald, 7 December 1789, announced his moving 'to Bridge St (formerly Quay Lane) where Geo. Moore had his shop, and has received from London and Dublin a fashionable assortment of silver and plate work'. He leased part of his Rutland Street dwelling in 1815. He died in Rutland Street in May 1817 and was buried in St. John's; his wife predeceased him in November 1815. (Bowen and O'Brien, 2007 p203)Hallmarking was introduced to Ireland in 1637 in order to control the practices of goldsmiths which had become increasingly dubious due to a lack of an established body to monitor the craft as a whole in Ireland. King Charles I established the ‘Wardens and Company of Goldsmiths of our said City of Dublin’ with a charter that would match their counterpart in London in relation to powers of law. The standards of production in place in England were replicated in the assay office set up in Dublin in April 1638 where every piece of silver produced in the country was stamped with ‘The King’s Majesty Stamp called the Harp Crowned.’ A second mandatory mark identified the maker of the item, usually the goldsmith’s initials. Or at least that was the idea, but as with any rule there is always the exception. Limerick silversmiths managed to defy these sanctions which mostly applied to those practicing the craft within a three mile radius of Dublin rather than farther afield. It was expected that those working in provincial centres would follow suit, however the specifics were somewhat vague. Equally the physical distance and difficulty of travel in the 17th century largely discouraged Limerick silversmiths to send their wares, of which many were highly valuable goods, to the assay office in Dublin. As a city, Limerick had their own trade guilds with their own set of rules, whose privileged position created a monopoly over the commercial economy of the city. The practice continued well into the 18th century despite the fact that the situation became more delicate for Irish provincial silversmiths with the introduction of a duty tax of 6d. per ounce on all gold and silverwares wrought in Ireland. This manifest evasion was tolerated by the State who turned a blind eye to the various unsanctioned marks. When a Limerick silversmith struck his mark upon a piece it acted as their guarantee to the customer. These marks vary with a castle gateway and six or eight pointed star stamped on late 17th century items, while from 1710 onwards ‘STERLING’ appeared along with the silversmiths initials. As ‘STERLING’ is not technically a hallmark the accompanying maker’s initials took on the equivalent weight of an official stamp. By staking their reputation through putting forward their own name rather than using the relative safety of a standard mark assured by the assay office, this suggests that Limerick silversmiths took particular pride and confidence in the high quality of their work.
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