Battle of Waterloo Box in New Silver Exhibition

This summer's selling exhibition at The London Silver Vaults, Chancery Lane, London WC2, is a wonderful opportunity for novice collectors and specialists alike to acquire small but covetable antique and C20th silver items at prices from around £100up to £10,000.

A major highlight of the exhibition is a rare collector’s item and piece of military history: a silver gilt cigar box, understood to have been a presentation gift made in 1855 to surviving officers who fought at the Battle of Waterloo. Made by John Harris of London, the Latin motto on the front reads 'I favour the brave'. On the reverse is engraved the standard of the 1st Royal Dragoons cavalry regiment, an eagle and the word, Waterloo. The cigar box is offered for sale by M. Sedler and is priced at £2500.

Other interesting silver boxes include:

- a Queen Anne commemorative patch box, probably a memento of her coronation, made by Thomas Kedder, dated circa 1702, priced at £695. (Linden & Co)
- a charming Victorian silver nutmeg holder with grater, in the form of a nutmeg, inscribed "D C P Christmas 1882" (42mm long, weight 21.8gm) Hilliard & Thomason of Birmingham, £1495. (Gideon Cohen)
- a pair of sterling silver table card boxes with a cat and dog modelled on lids, and box base to hold calling cards (lid hinged to side), 1907 by Berthold Müller, £3500. (Bryan Douglas)
- an exquisitely carved Chinese tortoiseshell box of the late C19th. (S&J Stodel)
- a rare antique silver jewellery box in the form of a grand piano, a hidden velvet-lined drawer pops open when you depress the piano pedals! London, 1905, £2785. (Silstar Antiques Ltd)

Boxing Clever runs until the end September 2010

See the Boxing Clever picture gallery and catalogue at www.thesilvervaults.com

Chess set made from Nelson’s HMS Victory

Here's a little bit of history, literally: a specially commissioned chess set has been created in collaboration with Diarmuid Byron-O'Connor, the sculptor. The very lifelike chess pieces are the English Navy on one side, led by Lord Admiral Nelson and cast in silver. The French on the other side, led by Villeneuve, the naval officer in charge of the French fleet, are cast in silver and then gilded.

But the the squares of the chess board are made from certified oak and mahogany taken from the original HMS Victory - on which Nelson served - when the ship was refitted in 1905. The copper corners on the board are from the copper plating on the original ship's hull. The chess set featured in the recent selling exhibition called Silver in the Study at the London Silver Vaults and is available from Langfords’ shop at the Silver Vaults, Chancery Lane WC2A 1QS.

Byron-O’Connor is best known for his Peter Pan statue outside Great Ormond Street Hospital.

London Silver Vaults in Best 50 Antiques Shops List

The Independent newspaper's The Information section last weekend (Sat 20 March) chose
The London Silver Vaults as one of its Best 50 Antiques Shops. 'In this remarkable centre there are some 30 dealers in antique and contemporary silver of every kind from tableware to candelabra,' says John Andrews. 'It's a great place to shop for anything silver for gifts both large and small.'

On the panel of experts making the selection were Mark Dodgson, secretary general of the British Association of Antique Dealers (www.bada.org); John Ainsley, editor of ‘Antiques Info’ (www.antiques-info.co.uk); John Andrews, editor of ‘Antique Collecting’ magazine’ (www.antiquecollectorsclub.com)and Fiona Ford of Lapada, the UK’s largest association of professional art and antiques dealers (www.lapada.org)

You can take a look at silver ideas for the study in the Picture Gallery at the Silver Vaults website

A Fashionista's Silver Style

We learn from this month’s In Style magazine that Gela Nash-Taylor, co-creative director of Juicy Couture (and wife of Duran Duran’s John Taylor) is a huge fan of The London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane. “I … adore the London Silver Vaults. I’m a massive collector” she says in an interview with the magazine about her favourite shopping haunts in London. Her house in the country, which was recently featured in World of Interiors magazine, does indeed display some fabulous silver candelabra on her dining table, which look very chic mixed with white porcelain and lots of lovely glass. There is a wide range of silver candelabra for sale at the 30 specialist shops located at the Vaults, from the highly ornate late Georgian ones shown here, to much simpler styles and more modernist, post-war designs by the likes of Stuart Devlin and Gerald Benney. www.thesilvervaults.com

SILVER IN THE STUDY

The study is a bolt-hole, for the writer, the loafer and the reader. The London Silver Vaults Spring 2010 selling exhibition runs until the end of May. It offers the smart study (or den or office) some fabulous Victorian, Edwardian and C20th desk accessories in silver such as inkstands (like this glass and silver owl), blotters, paper knives, pen trays, Victorian propelling pencils, tapersticks (small candlesticks for reading) and a late Victorian electric silver lamp. Bookmarks and bookends lend a library air. For after-dinner there are drinks trays, goblets, and decanters, as well as bridge sets or board games, even silver dice and sports trophies to reminisce over. There are over 70 exhibits and prices range from around £30 to £10,000. See the highlights in our new Picture Gallery.
www.thesilvervaults.com

This Christmas Buy Her Silver And Jewels

If she likes vintage jewellery or silver why not start your Christmas shopping at the London Silver Vaults? This yuletide the Vaults has come up with some stunning gift Ideas for the special woman in your life. Their Dressing Table gifts exhibition in the foyer displays a selection which makes the shopping easier. To give you a taster have a look on the website under Christmas Gifts. Dress rings are very popular at the moment and you can actually buy an original Art Deco amethyst ring or a Peridot necklace from the early 1900s. Or what about a fabulous gem studded gold bracelet from the 1950s. For the dressing table there is a tall, heart shaped mirror, gorgeous enamelled hand mirrors in jewel bright colours like the ones shown here and if she likes to entertain what about silver champagne goblets or silver salad servers. And why not pop a silver bracelet charm in her Christmas cracker - there are dozens to choose from, both new and old.
TheLondonSilverVaults

What can I buy him for Christmas?

Do you leave buying the most difficult present until last? That special gift for the man in your life? Well, help is at hand. If you want to find something that will be unique and most definitely not under any other Christmas tree, the London Silver Vaults is the place to go. There are over 25 shops to choose from in this treasure trove in Southampton Buildings at the north end of Chancery Lane. To get some ideas why not look on the website at the selection we have made from our Christmas Gifts exhibition at the Vaults. Did you know for instance that you can buy vintage Rolex watches or fabulous decorated silver goblets for wine or champagne. Or an elegant cutglass and silver decanter or claret jug. Or what about a chunky Dunhill table lighter…you don’t find many table lighters in the shops now. There are some great ideas here and prices to suit all pockets. Now what about giving him his very own Harley motorbike - in silver, of course. He will be very impressed.

thesilvervaults