World-Renowned Silver Expert’s Collection to be sold at Kinghams

Cotswold auctioneers, Kinghams, are delighted to be handling the sale of the Peter Cameron Collection on June 9th and 10th.

Peter Cameron is a world-renowned scholar and expert who has traded as a specialist in antique silver for fifty-two years. Peter is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company in London, and was a long-serving member of the Antique Plate Committee (subsequently, the Hallmarking Authentication Committee), an internationally renowned body, that adjudicates and advises on the authenticity of British silver. After studying history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, Peter Cameron began researching and dealing in antique silver in 1974. On his maternal side, the family's involvement in the silver and jewellery trade dates back to the early 1800s, with a great-grandfather joining Lambert’s of Coventry Street in 1848, and a great-great-uncle founding London and Ryder at 17 New Bond Street in 1850.

The sale will feature over eight hundred lots, to be sold across two days, at Kinghams’ headquarters in Moreton-in-Marsh.

A pair of George III Neoclassical candlesticks, by John Carter, London 1771

According to associate director and silver specialist Matthew Lafite, “In the world of antique silver, the name Peter Cameron is synonymous with quality, scholarship, and expertise. Peter has a well-earned reputation as a true expert with exacting standards. This collection contains some of the finest pieces of silver encountered outside of a museum. We are delighted to be entrusted with handling a collection of this calibre”.

Pieces in the sale span centuries, from the 1600s through to the modern day, with their origins in England and Europe, and from places further afield, such as Asia and Africa, too. With pieces from Royal Goldsmiths Paul Storr, and Robert Garrard, and designers Dr Christopher Dresser, and Hukin and Heath.

Hukin and Heath silver and glass snake handle claret jug.

Sale highlights include a Heath and Middleton for Hukin and Heath, tall late Victorian silver-mounted claret jug, with an entwined green glass snake handle. This model of jug is listed in the Hukin and Heath catalogue, and in the 1890s was priced at £5 4s.

A Victorian silver and parcel-gilt novelty ‘Huntsman’ inkwell, possibly modelled after the Duke of Argyll, by Henry William Dee, London 1879.

A unique Victorian silver and parcel-gilt novelty ‘Huntsman’ inkwell, possibly modelled after the Duke of Argyll, has already generated worldwide interest. Made by the famous firm of Henry William Dee, in London in 1879.

Mr. Lafite remarked, “Henry William and Louis Dee made high-quality silver novelties, including a number in the form of political caricatures. There is a striking resemblance to the 8th Duke of Argyll, George John Douglas Campbell, the polymath and Liberal statesman. So far as we know, this piece is a one-off. The quality is second to none.”

A Charles II Taunton silver beaker, by Thomas Dare junior, circa 1675

The sale includes an extremely rare piece of early Taunton silver. A seventeenth-century English provincial beaker by Thomas Dare junior, circa 1675, marked underneath with the Taunton 'T' and 'Tun' mark and the Dare's maker's mark several times. Pieces of early Taunton silver are exceedingly rare, and seldom encountered on the open market.

A pair of Oxford University silver seal boxes from circa 1750.

A very rare pair of boxes connected to the University of Oxford will generate much interest. The George II silver seal boxes, by Robert Collier, of London, circa 1750, have engraved lids with the arms of the University of Oxford, and one box contains the original wax seal impression. Mr. Lafite commented, “In the 1600s, and likely earlier, we know both Oxford and Cambridge presented Chancellors with silver containers that held their own seals, along with those of the universities. Over the years, many of these boxes appear to have been lost or repurposed. We know of only a few surviving examples, and one such pair, once contained the seals of the third Duke of Portland; these are still housed at Welbeck Abbey.”

Another highlight is an eighteenth-century novelty etui, modelled in form of an articulated fish, complete with its original fitted case. “In over fifty years of specialising in silver, Peter Cameron has never seen a piece quite like this before. Suffice to say, neither have I!”, Mr. Lafite explained.

Eighteenth-century novelty etui, modelled in the form of an articulated fish. 

 The collection has generated worldwide interest and is expected to fetch a large six-figure sum.

For further information, please contact Kinghams Auctioneers on 01608 695695, or www.kinghamsauctioneers.com