DESCRIPTION |
Very good Georgian silver lemon strainer with scroll handles, thread decorated bowl rim and hand cut pierced decoration typical of the period. The silver is thick throughout and heavier than you might expect. I have looked hard for signs of an erased engraving but can find none. |
SILVERSMITH |
James Stone partly lost in the piercing. Full mark, IS below a cinquefoil, with identical punch fault below the 'S' is noted on a salt of 1733. |
DATE or HALLMARK |
1733, a bit rubbed and clipped by the piercing but more than enough extant for certainty. |
ASSAY OFFICE |
London |
WEIGHT in GRAMS |
98, an impressive weight for a lemon strainer. |
SIZE in INCHES |
length: 6 including the handles. |
SILVER STANDARD |
.925 sterling silver, refreshingly clear marks to the bowl and one handle, both correct for 1729-39. |
OVERALL CONDITION |
Cast silver beautifully thick throughout with no evidence of engraving or erasure. The bowl rim is no longer perfectly round nor perfectly flat and I suspect that the handles have been reattached. There is a tiny splash of silver solder on the thread decoration within the bowl rim near one handle joint (image 8) that is not a rim split repair but evidence of a silversmith not fully cleaning up after reattaching the handle. I am certain that the maker would have cleaned this off. This inbuilt weak spot between the strong handles and body have no doubt saved this piece from the rim splits and handle fractures now so common to strainers of this period. A beautiful piece in superb condition and of intelligent design. |
FAULTS |
see just above and some little bumps to the undecorated part of the bowl, the only significant one below the rim midway between the handles and shown in image 9. |
| Back | £400 | sold | item number: M4285 |