Hunt & Roskell’s Presentation vase

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

This magnificent Presentation vase 1864 is the most important example of Victorian silver in the Gallery’s Collection. Its elaborate decoration is unlike anything produced in the Australian colonies, though the beautifully cast and chased kangaroos and an emu (as well as a camel) around the base suggest that it was commissioned with an Australian connection in mind.

It is believed that the vase was presented to Charles Joseph Latrobe (1801-75) who was Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Victoria from 1851 to 1854, before he returned to England. Removing inscriptions from presentation pieces when sold was quite common; it also removed any suggestion of financial difficulty for the owner.

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Hunt & Roskell, England 1843–1897 / Presentation vase 1864 / Sterling silver, cast and chased / Purchased 2009 with funds through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

Sterling silver is the British term that describes and alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. This alloy gives strength to the silver while at the same time preserving the ductility and beauty of the precious metal. Silver marked 925 is the European equivalent.

Over the years, most countries in the world have developed their own systems of hallmarking silver. A hallmark is used to indicate the purity of the silver alloy used in making the piece; to identify the silversmith or the company that made the piece; and to note the date and/or the location where the piece was made.

British silver has been hallmarked with great consistency since the end of the 12th century and it represents one of the earliest forms of consumer protection. These hallmarks indicate that the article has been independently tested at an Assay Office and they guarantee that it conforms to the legal standards of precious metal content, known as the fineness.

The Leopard’s Head is the mark of the London Assay Office and has been in continuous use since 1300. By 1363 every gold or silver smith had to stamp each piece of work with their personal mark, to show that they had met the set standards.

In 1478, year marks were introduced to further protect consumers. A group of four punch-marks make up the hall mark which reads from left to right: the Lion passant is the British sterling mark; the Leopard’s head denotes that the Presentation vase was made in London; the Gothic ‘I’ is the date mark for 1864; and the head of Queen Victoria shows that duty has been paid.

Other marks on the Presentation vase include a punch with ‘Ish’ which show that it was made by John Samuel Hunt (1785-1865). Along the bottom edge is ‘Hunt & Roskell Late Storr & Mortimer’ which establishes that the firm was heir to the legendary Regency silversmith Paul Storr (1771-1844) who began his business as Storr & Co in 1819, ‘Breadalbane 1877’ probably relates to an inventory record for Gavin Campbell (1851-1922), 7th Earl of Breadalbane.

Glenn R Cooke is former Research Curator, Queensland Heritage, QAGOMA

Related Stories

  •
    Read •

    Queensland jeweller & silversmith CA Brown

    Australia’s colonial period was marked by an exuberant exploration of the Australian landscape, both physically and artistically, the artworks and ornamental delicacies that emerged from this time reflect the talent of the craftspeople and highlight the quality of locally available materials. Queensland artists such as silversmith Augustus Kosvitz and cabinetmaker Joshua Ebenston fashioned one-of-a-kind pieces for wealthy pastoralists and successful business people, while firms such as Flavelle Brothers supplied a mix of locally fashioned articles and imported wares. Brisbane 1870s When CA (Charles Allen) Brown (2 February 1850-1908) arrived in Brisbane in 1870, he had just completed a seven-year apprenticeship under Sydney-based Danish silversmith Christian Ludwig Qwist. Brown soon established himself as a working jeweller and silversmith catering to Queensland’s most discerning clientele, his premises located at 88 Edward Street. The business soon grew in size and importance and by 1888 he received official appointment as ‘Jeweller, Watch and Clock Maker by special appointment to the Government of Queensland’ before moving to 42 Queen Street in 1892. Brown’s arrival in Brisbane coincided with an affluent period in Queensland’s history as deposits of gold had been discovered in Gympie in 1867, and soon gold would be found in Charters Towers in North Queensland a year after his arrival. With its gold boom between 1872 and 1899 it’s population grew from under 3,000 to around 30,000 which made Charters Towers the largest city in Queensland other than Brisbane where the metropolitan population at the beginning of the 1870s was some 18,000 and by 1900 was around 120,000, with Queensland’s population increasing from 115,000 to close to 500,000. Charters Towers gold diggings 1878 Brisbane became a municipality only 11 years earlier on 6 June 1859 when Queen Victoria approved the creation of the new colony called Queensland. By the 1880s Brisbane became the main site for commerce in the state, and a capital in waiting until 1901. The mid-1880s also brought a period of economic prosperity through trade, and a major construction boom in Brisbane as the infrastructure of the Colony of Queensland improved. Over the next 38 years the business employed about twenty watchmakers, engravers, jewellers and silversmiths, including family members. Besides jewellery, as was the custom of the time, CA Brown’s workshop was kept busy with commissions for elaborate ceremonies, agricultural and industrial exhibitions, and state displays with cups, trophies and medals in demand. Brown created some of the finest metalwork seen in Queensland and in 1901 produced the gold mayoral medallion and chain for the City of Brisbane that is still used by the Lord Mayors on ceremonial occasions. It was designed for the Federation celebrations and first worn by Alderman Thomas Proe on 20 May 1901 (illustrated) when he welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cornwell and York (later King George V and Queen Mary), when they arrived in Queensland for a 25 day royal tour of the state after opening the first Australian Parliament in Melbourne. Gold mayoral medallion & chain for the City of Brisbane 1901 Ceremonial archway, George Street, Brisbane 1901 This silver and mother-of-pearl brooch c.1890 (illustrated), with its confident mother-of-pearl shell carving and delicate wrought silver vine leaf border has all the stylistic qualities that mark it as the work of CA Brown. The National Gallery of Australia holds in its collection a hair ornament by CA Brown in a remarkably similar style (illustrated). In both items, the mother-of-pearl has been fashioned into heart shapes and engraved with floral designs. Both have finely wrought silver work designs around the edge of the shells in a repetitive motif and flower, grape leaf and tendril designs. A silver central floral swag adorns the shell on the hair ornament, while a simple silver flower motif sits at the centre of the shell on the brooch. Attrib. To CA Brown ‘Silver and mother-of-pearl shell brooch’ c.1890 Similar styled brooch & hair ornament Often mounted in gold or silver, many forms of shell were used in Australian colonial jewellery manufacture. Torres Strait sourced mother-of-pearl, with its entrancing lustre and suitability for carving, was notably popular. The Queenslander of 25 August 1877, commented on CA Brown’s work shown at the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition of that year: ‘Mr CA Brown has a glass-case set out with an extremely handsome collection, made exclusively of Queensland materials . . . Mr Brown’s display includes a very chaste collection of jewellery, in the manufacture of which trigonias, operculas, nautilus and other shells, together with pearls from Somerset, are made to show to great advantage set in gold and silver.’ CA Brown ‘Inkwell’ 1874 The QAGOMA Collection also holds examples of Brown’s silver and emu egg inkwells, the inkwell (illustrated) made in 1874, is the earliest surviving example of his work in a public collection, commissioned by the Hiram Masonic Lodge. The inkwell prominently displays a truncated emu egg among two distinctly Australian emblems fashioned from silver: a tree fern that supports the egg and a figurine of an emu that surmounts the ink bladder. A plaque on the inkwell’s turned wood pedestal is engraved with the details of the presentation. CA Brown died on 5 September 1908 at age 58, his work is distinguished by its quality and craftsmanship, his mark ‘CA Brown-Brisbane’ or ‘CAB’. CA Brown ‘Pair of inkwells’ c.1880s Curatorial extracts by Timothy Roberts, QAGOMA Foundation Member and Michael Hawker, former Curator, Australian Art (to 1980), research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA The silver and mother-of-pearl brooch c.1890 is on display within the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13).
  •
    Read •

    Gold and pearl bracelet: A glimpse of Queensland’s history

    This charming gold and pearl bracelet on display at the Queensland Art Gallery, is a lovely example of work by the Brisbane firm Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey, and represents the local jeweller’s skill as well as providing a glimpse of Queensland’s history. The gold bracelet is the most significant piece of Queensland jewellery to come to the Gallery’s notice. The delicacy and refinement of the bracelet suggests that it may have been a special commission, consisting of nine shells fashioned from Australian gold, each set with a small natural pearl, linked together with a larger detachable shell and pearl at the centre. A newspaper advertisement in 1902 stated that Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey cut and polished gemstones and dealt in Queensland sapphires, opals and pearls; the pearls in this bracelet were probably harvested in north Queensland. Pearling was the largest industry in far north Queensland in the 1890s — in 1896, for instance, Thursday Island was home to 300 Japanese pearlers, a Japanese consul was based in Townsville, and pearling was the only industry ever exempted from the White Australia policy. Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey ‘Bracelet’ c.1910 The cast shell forms in this bracelet have a connection with Queensland: according to Dr John Healy, Curator Mollusca at the Queensland Museum, the shells are most likely from a Turbo snail (either Turbo brunneus or Turbo intercoastalis), as both have spirally grooved shells and a wide distribution, which takes in Queensland coastal waters. Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey Ltd Flavelle Bros. & Co was originally established in Brisbane in 1863. James Nash, the discoverer of the Gympie goldfields in 1868, brought the first consignment of 621 ounces of gold to Brisbane for Mr Flavelle to test and weigh. The resultant financial stimulus to the colonial economy put Queensland on the map. The firm later became Flavelle Bros. and Roberts before establishing itself as Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey in 1892, and opening a Rockhampton branch in December 1894. It moved to larger premises in the main street, East Street, within two years, and was still operating there more than 30 years later. Although largely a retail business, their silversmithing, watchmaking and optical work suggests that they were more than able to make jewellery as well as sell it, in Brisbane if not Rockhampton. Franco-British Exhibition, London Indeed, by 1908, they described themselves as ‘manufacturing jewellers’. That year, for the Queensland Court of the Franco–British Exhibition in London, a promotional adjunct to their display of Queensland gemstones, titled ‘From Outer Darkness’, included reports of their exhibit at the ‘Melbourne Exhibition of Women’s Work’ in the previous year. This attracted the attention of Queen Alexandra. As a further mark of esteem, in 1909 the firm was appointed as gem merchant to Australia’s Governor General, the Earl of Dudley. From the very beginning of the business, they had imported the finest English porcelains, and in later years, established a local reputation for Royal Worcester porcelain decorated with floral studies, after designs by Marian Ellis Rowan. Over the decades, Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey was a worthy competitor to rival businesses like Hardy Bros. and Wallace Bishop, but eventually closed in 1949. Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA The Bracelet c.1910 is on display within the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13).