Irish Republican Interest: a silver beaker, by William Egan & Sons of Cork 1930, Dublin 1930-31, with two bands of Celtic knot decoration and engraved 'To Sean From Seven Irish Rebels, 1931-1932, SPIKE', the reverse with engraved signatures, please note rare hallmark, 10.5cm high During a brief period of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1922), Cork silversmith, William Egan & Sons, were unable to send their works to Dublin to be assayed. Barry Egan, the company's managing director, devised his own mark of a masted ship between two castle turrets next to his sponsor's mark 'WE' that was used during this time. A derivation of this mark is found in the form of a maker's stamp on the base of this beaker. It is possible that the inscription 'To Sean' refers to Sean Moylan who was elected the Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North at the 1932 General Election. It is also possible that 'Spike' refers to Spike island, the former fort and prison in Cork harbour known as 'Hell on Earth' that was used to hold IRA prisoners during the Irish War of Independence. The signatures read: Michael O'Driscoll, James Crosbie, Seumas Collins, Arthur Duff, Alexander M. Healy, D M O'Connor and William A Mower.
Irish Republican Interest: a silver beaker, by William Egan & Sons of Cork 1930, Dublin 1930-31, with two bands of Celtic knot decoration and engraved 'To Sean From Seven Irish Rebels, 1931-1932, SPIKE', the reverse with engraved signatures, please note rare hallmark, 10.5cm high During a brief period of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1922), Cork silversmith, William Egan & Sons, were unable to send their works to Dublin to be assayed. Barry Egan, the company's managing director, devised his own mark of a masted ship between two castle turrets next to his sponsor's mark 'WE' that was used during this time. A derivation of this mark is found in the form of a maker's stamp on the base of this beaker. It is possible that the inscription 'To Sean' refers to Sean Moylan who was elected the Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North at the 1932 General Election. It is also possible that 'Spike' refers to Spike island, the former fort and prison in Cork harbour known as 'Hell on Earth' that was used to hold IRA prisoners during the Irish War of Independence. The signatures read: Michael O'Driscoll, James Crosbie, Seumas Collins, Arthur Duff, Alexander M. Healy, D M O'Connor and William A Mower.
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
