Beschreibung:

Rare Uniform Regency Sterling Silver "Fiddle and Shell" Flatware Set all pieces hallmarked London, 1819-1820, by William Eley and William Fearn, including a dozen five-piece place settings with an additional thirty place pieces and ten serving pieces, each engraved with the crest of a cubit arm holding in the hand an open book; together with two dozen each later (Sheffield, 1982-1983) dinner and luncheon knives. 100 pieces plus 48 later knives 225.33 total t. oz. (weighable silver) Provenance: The Collection of the Late Dr. E. Ralph Lupin, New Orleans, Louisiana. Notes: Ian Pickford notes in his authoritative Silver Flatware: English, Irish and Scottish, 1660-1980 (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antiques Collectors' Club, 1983) that "this is a scarce variant of the Fiddle pattern dating from the early nineteenth century and made mostly in Scotland and Newcastle, although London examples will be found. The majority of items are single struck . . . although rare double struck examples can be found." This set is both London-made and double struck (i.e., with the shell pattern on both the front and back of the handle), so it is all the more extraordinary that all of the forks, spoons and serving pieces have the same date and maker's mark. Uniform sets such as this with no variant or added pieces are quite rare. The absence of knives is not unusual; the thin, stamped sheet silver handles of the time were filled with pitch or plaster and did not survive nearly as well over the decades as did the solid silver forks and spoons. Indeed, it was not uncommon for knives to be purchased separately from a skilled cutler with sturdier bone or wooden handles.