by Tommaso Teardo
London Nineteenth-century silverware reflects a city that is the capital of a boundless empire that includes the four corners of the globe. It is also the engine of the industrial revolution that had boosted the advent of modernity. Both the aristocracy and the upper middle-class loved being surrounded by unique and luxurious objects that reflected their social status. Hunt & Roskell was a renowned jeweller and silversmith on Bond Street in London. For many years, he was given the Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria. In the middle of the Nineteenth century, the company was growing, both creatively and economically. The partners were John Samuel Hunt, his son John Hunt, Robert Roskell Junior (son of respected pocket watch manufacturer Robert Roskell from Liverpool) and Charles Frederick Hancock. They created wonderful silver tea and coffee sets, trays and candlesticks, display dishes and cups, as well as decorated and decorative centrepieces.
The next silverware auction, which will be held on 12 November, will include a silver centrepiece with silver metal presentoire and mercury glass mirror, made in London in 1865 by the silversmith J.S. Hunt Per Hunt And Roskell, with a three-foot trompe l’oeil stand with hem decorated with grapevines. Two playful cherubs rest on it. The stem is also decorated with grapevines. The metal presentoire presents a mercury glass mirror that rests on three wooden feet.
An object characterised by a playful and enchanting beauty that turns the silver it is made of into the representation of a unique historic period.