Silver & Objects of Vertu - Day 1 - 25th October 2022

Day 1 - lot 1-464

Day 2 - lot 465-883

To view Day 2 of the sale please click here

The Woolley & Wallis Silver department has become well known for handling collections and included in the 25^th and 26^th October Silver & Objects of Vertu sale is a private collection of over 100 mainly 19^th century silver vinaigrettes. 

During the early 19^th century, sanitation was generally low across the social classes, and perfume became a necessity to the gentry, not only to disguise odours, but also many believed certain scents offered protection from diseases. This resulted in the need for a portable means of storing the perfume, and vinaigrettes offered a practical, and fashionable, solution to this. Their production took on many forms, from simple, silver boxes to crowns, enamelled ladybirds and various novelty items.  Many were decorated with scenes of abbeys, cathedrals, stately homes and engravings, with rarer examples including Gloucester Cathedral.

Continental silver has a strong following, and a feature of the October sale is a late 16^th century German parcel-gilt beaker, or setzbecher.  The beakers compactly stacked, forming sets of six or twelve, and popular from the mid-16^th century.  The borders were often decorated and the beaker in the October sale is no exception, and is engraved with various domestic scenes including a court jester playing a lute in front of a lady and gentleman and a man in a garden scene with two fish within a cloud cartouche.

The sale also features a private collection of regimental silver, mainly comprising menu card holders in the form of Regimental badges.  Regiments include The 2^nd Dragoons, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, The Royal Scots and The Welsh Guards.