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Lot Essay
The Victorian fashion for ever more elaborate table-settings and fanciful realism found form towards the end of the 19th century in silver-mounted glass claret-jugs, pepperettes and scent bottles in the shape of animals. The scope of flora and fauna known to the Victorians had increased exponentially with exploration and the Empire; some homes, including that of Queen Victoria, even had 'Indian' or 'Oriental' rooms in which to display exotic objects obtained on travels, or their reproductions.
The firm of William Leuchars and Sons, based at 38-39 Picadilly and with a branch in Paris, were closely tied with the manufacturer H.W. and L. Dee, who they purchased in 1884. Both firms were prolific manufacturers of silver and silver-mounted glass novelty items. J. Culme, in his book London Silversmiths Jewellers and Allied Traders 1838-1914, Woodbridge, 1987, records at least two silver-mounted scent bottles with the mark of Dee so perhaps it is their mark which is being overstruck. Leuchars and Sons, who had exhibited in the 1851 great exhibition, were acquired by Asprey in 1888, though the firm continued to trade as Leuchar and Sons until it closed in 1902.
The firm of William Leuchars and Sons, based at 38-39 Picadilly and with a branch in Paris, were closely tied with the manufacturer H.W. and L. Dee, who they purchased in 1884. Both firms were prolific manufacturers of silver and silver-mounted glass novelty items. J. Culme, in his book London Silversmiths Jewellers and Allied Traders 1838-1914, Woodbridge, 1987, records at least two silver-mounted scent bottles with the mark of Dee so perhaps it is their mark which is being overstruck. Leuchars and Sons, who had exhibited in the 1851 great exhibition, were acquired by Asprey in 1888, though the firm continued to trade as Leuchar and Sons until it closed in 1902.