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Lot Essay
Bermuda Silver
Thirty-eight silversmiths are recorded working in Bermuda between 1650 and 1900, of which only 12 were born in Bermuda. Much extant Bermudian silver is preserved in private collections and is rarely seen on the market. Most recently a silver tankard, mark of Thomas Savage Sr., circa 1710 was sold Sotheby’s, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 137.
Thomas Blatchley
Until the discovery of the present lot, the only know piece of largework bearing the TB monogram mark was a galleried teapot, c. 1790 (see Jeanne Sloane, ‘Competition & Craft: The Silversmithing Industry in Bermuda’, Made in Bermuda Bermudian silver, furniture art & design, 2000, p. 28, illus. p. 29.). Sloane ascribes the mark firmly to Blatchley as the style of the teapot is closely related to the work of Peter Palais, who continued Thomas Blatchley’s business after the latter’s death in 1792. Philadelphia characteristics shared by the present sugar bowl and the teapot include a gallery at the rim and a silver pineapple finial. A set of spoons, c. 1790, with the same TB monogram mark is also known (see Bryden Bordley Hyde, Bermuda’s Antique Furniture & Silver, 1971, p. 182 no. 414, illus. p. 183).
Elizabeth Poulton Dalzell (1786-1849)
Elizabeth, for whom the present lot is probably engraved was the eldest daughter of the fourteen children of Dr. John Dalzell (1762-1840) and Mary Seymour Poulton (1768-1839). John Dalzell, an Irish naval doctor from Co. Down, Ireland served in the Royal Navy with Admiral Horatio Nelson, and it was Nelson who suggested to Dalzell that the Caribbean climate may provide relief for his respiratory ailments. Dalzell was shipwrecked in Bermuda on his way to Nevis in 1783. Following the wreck he stayed and married the Bermuda born Mary Seymour Poulton. The couple assembled properties on the land which now constitutes the Heydon Trust, the largest surviving single estate in Bermuda today. Both Elizabeth's mother and her maternal grandmother’s names were Mary. Family tradition suggests that she was sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Poulton. Elizabeth died without issue, and the present lot has passed by family descent through Elizabeth's sister Sarah.
Thirty-eight silversmiths are recorded working in Bermuda between 1650 and 1900, of which only 12 were born in Bermuda. Much extant Bermudian silver is preserved in private collections and is rarely seen on the market. Most recently a silver tankard, mark of Thomas Savage Sr., circa 1710 was sold Sotheby’s, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 137.
Thomas Blatchley
Until the discovery of the present lot, the only know piece of largework bearing the TB monogram mark was a galleried teapot, c. 1790 (see Jeanne Sloane, ‘Competition & Craft: The Silversmithing Industry in Bermuda’, Made in Bermuda Bermudian silver, furniture art & design, 2000, p. 28, illus. p. 29.). Sloane ascribes the mark firmly to Blatchley as the style of the teapot is closely related to the work of Peter Palais, who continued Thomas Blatchley’s business after the latter’s death in 1792. Philadelphia characteristics shared by the present sugar bowl and the teapot include a gallery at the rim and a silver pineapple finial. A set of spoons, c. 1790, with the same TB monogram mark is also known (see Bryden Bordley Hyde, Bermuda’s Antique Furniture & Silver, 1971, p. 182 no. 414, illus. p. 183).
Elizabeth Poulton Dalzell (1786-1849)
Elizabeth, for whom the present lot is probably engraved was the eldest daughter of the fourteen children of Dr. John Dalzell (1762-1840) and Mary Seymour Poulton (1768-1839). John Dalzell, an Irish naval doctor from Co. Down, Ireland served in the Royal Navy with Admiral Horatio Nelson, and it was Nelson who suggested to Dalzell that the Caribbean climate may provide relief for his respiratory ailments. Dalzell was shipwrecked in Bermuda on his way to Nevis in 1783. Following the wreck he stayed and married the Bermuda born Mary Seymour Poulton. The couple assembled properties on the land which now constitutes the Heydon Trust, the largest surviving single estate in Bermuda today. Both Elizabeth's mother and her maternal grandmother’s names were Mary. Family tradition suggests that she was sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Poulton. Elizabeth died without issue, and the present lot has passed by family descent through Elizabeth's sister Sarah.