Scottish silver leads Somerset sale

Antique George II snuff mullA Somerset auction house saw busy sales at its latest auction as nearly 700 lots of silver, vertu and snuff boxes going under the hammer, with the top lot a George II snuff mull making £9760.

Made by Hugh Ross of Tain in the Scottish Highlands in c.1750, the box measured 5.5cm high.

The sale’s other highlights included:

  • £1830 paid for a simple but imposing lidded tankard by Matthew Lofthouse from 1717
  • £2800 for a pair of George II `Rococo` candlesticks by Ebenezer Coker (1750)
  • £2440 for a Belgian coffee pot, possibly Bruges, c.1740

Smaller items were also in demand, such as:

  • a novelty vinaigrette in the form of a walnut and barely an inch (2.5cm) long made £1460
  • a Scottish hardstone vinaigrette from c.1840-1850 was a little smaller still and made £2190
  • a Regency miniature, approximately the size of a postcard, depicting a seated lady admiring a lover’s portrait as a black servant stands at her side, doubled hopes to make £700
  • a lot of three small ivory items, including a portrait of Louis XIV, made £1460.

A private collection of snuff boxes nearly all found buyers, with top prices paid for an Irish example by Benjamin Stokes of Dublin, which sold for £3,660. Elsewhere, an Irish freedom box from c.1766 also made £3,660; as did a Charles II counter box with around 24 counters.

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