Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-08-15
OLD ENGLISH SILVER.

The extraordinary advance within
 the last few years in the values of
 old plate of English origin. as we'll
 as in other works of art, is due in
 some measure to the advent of the American collector, who in many i'm stances will pay absurdly extrava- gant prices for an object without the slightest discrimination, while on the other hand he will reject an inter- esting and genuine example of old work at moderate price, from his lack of knowledge and judgment Prices are now being obtained at Christie's and other auction rooms for specimens of early English silver undreamt of by the collector of ten years ago, and there appears no sign ofga depreciation in their commer- cfal values. AS an instance we have only to refer to the dispersal of the well known Dunn-Gardner collection few years ago, which created a sen- sation by the remarkable prices ob- tained, when three of those curious stoneware jugs, with silver mounts of Elizabeth's reign, were sold for
 374, whereas almost double that sum was realized for three similar jugs at the Louis Huth's sale at Christie's last year.
 Among the examples of early Eng fish plate publicly sold at high prices are complete set of thirteen Apostle spoons, including the rare Master" spoon. of the reign of Henry VIII, dated 1886, for { 1900; a Tudor cup of 1521. similar in form, but more elaborately decorated, to the con- munion cups at Wymeswold in Lei cestershire and Sandwich in Kent,
 f HOO: another fiat Tudor cup or bowl of four years later, eSS0; the historic James I. tall, standing cup and cover, made of the great seal of Ireland, now one of the treasures of that omnivorous collector, J. Pierpont Morgan, who already pos sesses a few valuable specimens of English silver: the superb and uni que Elizabethan standing salt cellar and cover of crystal. richly mounted in silver gilt. probably the work of a celebrated English goldsmith, Thomas Hampton of The Falcon"
 z 5000, and a James I. standing salt of silver gilt. ( 1.150.
 To those costly specimens may be added the very fine rose water dish and ewer of James I period, similar to some in the possession of the czar of Russia: and the Elizabethan and James I.sloping tankards. resembling the one at the Ashmolean museum, which were purchased at the Huh sale for { e4.O5O. e1,71O and s1.- zoo respectively. To these may be added the two Elizabethan tazze for merly belonging to the Corporation of Boston. Lincolnshire. who had so little regard for their ancient treas ures that they disposed of the whole of their plate in 1897. The municipal council at Leicester. to their lasting their old plate and regalia on the ground that "the true dignity of the mayOralty does not consist in anti quated paReantry" The Boston tzzze sold for ( 2.s00 and have. we un- derstand. crossed the Atlantic, vhf.h- CT they had been preceded by the fine eighteenth century loving cup which had also formed part of the civic plate of that ancient Lincolnshire borough. and now occupies a place of honor at St BOtoIph club at Boston. Mass.
 Exquisite and valuable as the little ever of crystal and silver gilt lis covered at the late marquis on An giesey's Staffordshire seat undoust- edly is. the enormous price of f4.- 200 obtained for it is far in excess of It's value IL was catalogued as of English workmanship. and this no doubt accounts for the high figure paid, but there can be no doubt that the craftsman who fashioned this charming piece was a German. prob ably of the Augsburg guild.
 The large demand for old Sheffield plate and the high value set upon 1t have resulted in the production of large quantities of spurious articles which. unlike the genuine specimens. are merely eIec1roplated on copper Many of these spurious pieces may ee seen in dealers shop pindors Tn bo1do1 and in some of our old efffes nk1 fowrn fu rra -rrrfrcu