Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu - 28th April 2026
Lot 313
A rare James I silver sugar or spice box,
Estimate £20,000 - £30,000 | Hammer £22860
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
A rare James I silver sugar or spice box,
probably by Thomas Jempson, London 1616,
shell form, the hinged cover modelled as a scallop shell, with textured decoration and with a mythical dolphin, stylised ovolo/tongue border, the front with a hinged hasp with a ring attachment, the interior with a divider, the base with a similar border and on four snail feet, the underside with an old museum loan number, length 14.5cm, approx. weight 13oz.
Provenance: A Private Collection.
Listed in collection inventory as purchased from Bruford 25 April 1937.
By family repute this box once belonged to Samuel Pepys.
For maker's mark see Mitchell, D., Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London, Their Lives and Marks, The Boydell Press, 2017, page 535.