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Lot Essay
Lots 111-113 are the work of Edward Farrell (d. 1850), who inarguably produced some of the greatest silver in the 19th century. Farrell most notably supplied silver to the Duke of York, through his association with the retailer Kensington Lewis. Farrell's work drew upon disparate styles and subject matter, with a particular affinity for Renaissance and Mannerist prototypes. The oriental motif of this chess service is also seen on an elephant-form bottle ticket, 1818, which is illustrated in John Culme, "Kensington Lewis: A Nineteenth-Century Businessman," The Connoisseur, September 1975, p. 27.
Silver chess sets are a great rarity. In addition to this set, Michael Clayton cites three: one 1689, one 1750, and another service by Farrell, nearly identical to this one, that also dates to 1816. Each set features one side of silver, the other of silver-gilt. The other Farrell service sold Sotheby's, London, 15 June 1961, lot 152, and again from the collection of Mrs. Fay Plohn, Sotheby's, London, 15 October 1970, lot 55 and is illustrated in Michael Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, 1971, illus. p. 65, n. 123 and in Victor Keats, Chessmen for Collectors, 1985, p. 135, fig. 160.
Silver chess sets are a great rarity. In addition to this set, Michael Clayton cites three: one 1689, one 1750, and another service by Farrell, nearly identical to this one, that also dates to 1816. Each set features one side of silver, the other of silver-gilt. The other Farrell service sold Sotheby's, London, 15 June 1961, lot 152, and again from the collection of Mrs. Fay Plohn, Sotheby's, London, 15 October 1970, lot 55 and is illustrated in Michael Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, 1971, illus. p. 65, n. 123 and in Victor Keats, Chessmen for Collectors, 1985, p. 135, fig. 160.