Leading the sale was this Rattray & Co., 9K gold center bowl, which was presented in 1931 to the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, parents to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, wife and Queen Consort to King George VI of England and the mother of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. It brought $60,000 after being chased by several bidders.
DALLAS – The 9K gold centerbowl presented to Queen Elizabeth II’s grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, sold for $60,000 to lead Heritage Auctions’ Fine Silver & Objects of Fine Vertu Auction on May 5. The sale totaled $834,988 and boasted sell-through rates of 99.1 percent by value and 95.6 percent by lot.
The Rattray & Co., 9K gold center bowl was presented in 1931 to the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, parents to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, wife and Queen Consort to King George VI of England and the mother of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, at their home, Glamis Castle, by a deputation of the city of Dundee in honor of their golden wedding anniversary.
A circa 1880 Hermann Ratzersdorfer gem-set, partia- gilt enameled silver-mounted and engraved rock crystal figural tazza, Vienna, prompted bids from more than a dozen collectors before finishing at $47,500; it was from an important Akron, Ohio, estate. The tazza features an enameled cast satyr figure based on a print by Cornelis Floris. Resting on his head is a spade-form rock crystal bowl engraved with scrolled foliage and set in silver mounts with grotesque masques and a dragon-form handle with outstretched wings and a meandering tail, all enhanced with white, red and green enamel.
Another gold center bowl, this example circa 1948 in 14K gold by Tiffany & Co., New York City, finished at $32,500. Also by Tiffany & Co., circa 1948, was a pair of 14K gold candlesticks that sparked competitive bidding before closing at $31,250. Both lots came from the New York City estate of a New York City industrialist who gave them to his wife in 1948 as a birthday gift. Each candlestick and the bowl are monogrammed “BJC” and to the underside inscribed “March 16, 1948.”
A 101-piece Jean E. Puiforcat French silver flatware service for 24, designed in 1928 in the Cannes pattern, more than tripled its high estimate when it brought $21,250. The set includes 24 knives, dinner forks, salad forks and teaspoons, as well as a vegetable serving fork, a solid smooth casserole spoon, a set of sugar tongs and a salad serving fork and spoon, each with banded necks and geometric outlined handles. Another Tiffany & Co., silver flatware service, this a 190-piece place setting for 22 in the “Crysanthemum” pattern, circa 1880, settled at $16,250.
Other auction highlights included, but were not limited to a Hans Bolek Jugendstil partial-gilt silver standing bowl, made in Vienna circa 1909, that realized $20,000. A 287-piece Maison Cardeilhac silver flatware service, made in Paris in the late Nineteenth Century achieved $15,000. A pair of R&S Garrard & Co., partial-gilt silver two-tier dessert stands, London, 1843, made $11,250 and an American silver tureen with cast turtle-form handles and finial, made circa 1865 by John Wendt of New York, was snapped up for $10,625.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
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