A pair of George III silver salt cellars, each an oval gallery with beaded edge and with pierced leaves around the upper and lower band and with a line of engraved decoration to the middle of swags of leaves and flowers, with pierced floral roundels to the sides and ends and with an escutcheon to one side with period initials and on ball and claw feet, each having the original blue crystal liner cut with a star to the base. London 1789 and 1790, one by Hester Bateman and the other by Peter and Ann Bateman.
Condition: Overall very good, both pieces are in good condition with reasonably crisp engraving, they stand well and the marks are clear on both pieces. The maker’s mark on the later example is slightly obscured but is sufficient to decipher the initials. The liners both have small chips to them but both are the originals. Both pieces have the delightful appearance and colour one associates with eighteenth century English silver.
A word about the makers: Hester Bateman, probably the best known woman silversmith of the eighteenth century, took over her husband’s chain making business on his death in 1760, and became one of the pre-eminent designers of the first half of the reign of George III. Her business supplied anything in domestic silver that the upper middle class household could want, from flatware to large items of teawares. She died in 1790 and her concern was taken on by her son Peter and daughter Ann, as well as other children who would join the business later.
Measurements:
Length = 8.5 cm (3.25”)
Weight = 103 g (3.34 oz t)