Category: FRESH!

The historic events of this weekend will be remembered forever in the history books, as King Charles III is coronated amongst the pomp & ceremony of the British Royalty.

We’re joining in, by releasing a splendid collection of ‘Armorials’, the table-items of the British aristocratic families which bear their coat-of-arms.

As well, there are two special ‘spoons’, both Sterling Silver with gilt wash.
The first is a perfect introduction to the process of Royal ascension. It bears the ‘Prince-of-Wales’ feathers to the end, and a finely detailed heraldic dragon, the symbol of Wales. This has been Prince Charles’s symbol for my entire lifetime; now, he has recently passed the title of ‘Prince-of-Wales’ to his heir apparent, Prince William.
Back in 1910 when this spoon was made, it would have signified the passing of the title from George V as he became King George V, with his son Edward becoming the Prince-of-Wales and heir apparent.

Unfortunately, Mrs Simpson came into the scene, and he never reached the stage of Coronation before his abdication in 1936.

The second piece we have – another spoon – would have been made with the Coronation of Edward VIII in mind, but was just as suitable for the sudden promotion of George VI to King, who simply took Edward’s place on the same date as planned, the 12th May 1937. This spoon would have been created in anticipation of Edward VIII’s event, but would have been just as suitable for George VI, as it doesn’t bear any names – unlike many other pieces, which were made in anticipation of the coronation that never happened!

This is the Royal Coronation Spoon, a very important part of the coronation of King Charles III in 2023.

The Coronation Spoon is the oldest piece of British Royal regalia to have survived. Stylistically 12th century, it is thought to have been made in the Royal workshops for Henry II (1133-89) or Richard I (1157-99). It is first recorded in the Royal inventory in 1349, described as ‘antique’.

The divided form is unusual, indicating it was not made for eating with, but for ritual; the suggestion is it was for mixing wine and water in a church ritual. James I was the first monarch to use it as a coronation spoon in 1603, and it has been used in every subsequent coronation since.

The Royal Collection website states the following about the spoon:

“The anointing is the most sacred part of the coronation ceremony, and takes place before the investiture and crowning. The Archbishop pours holy oil from the Ampulla (or vessel) into the spoon, and anoints the sovereign on the hands, breast and head. The tradition goes back to the Old Testament which describes the anointing of Solomon by Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet. Anointing was one of the medieval holy sacraments and it emphasised the spiritual status of the sovereign. Until the seventeenth century the sovereign was considered to be appointed directly by God and this was confirmed by the ceremony of anointing. Although the monarch is no longer considered divine in the same way, the ceremony of Coronation also confirms the monarch as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.”

This smaller version would have been a luxury ‘souvenir’ of the 1936 coronation of George VI.

Armorials

We have accumulated a large collection of Armorials at Moorabool. They were all ‘bespoke’ products, created for the family whose crest they bear. And this is the reason we have so many waiting patiently to enter stock: the Research of the original owners takes time!

It’s well worth doing. A Royal piece is the ultimate, followed by the ‘Greats’ of British (or European – or Colonial) History, those who achieved something to be remembered by.

Others are just splendid works of art which remind us of the pomp of high-society in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Of course, there’s descendants of many of these families all over the world, and once in a while we are thrilled to sell a piece of an ancestral service to a descendent.

Here’s a few of our Armorials – with many more to come.

General ‘Fresh Stock’

18th Century Enamels – Asian Silver – Antiquities & Fossils – plus more!
All fresh to stock, April 28th, 2023.

We have a good group of interesting items for you to browse, Fresh to our stock.
There’s some fine & rare early English Enamels – including a very ‘sweet’ Goldfinch. This little box had a purpose – to hold breath fresheners, essential in an age with minimal dental hygiene!

Vertu

Antiquities

A fresh group of Antiquities have been prepared for your viewing pleasure…. there’s a few more interesting Fossils & Minerals from our Natural History department, all recently mounted for display.

Antiquities include a fascinating group of four Chinese pottery ‘stoves’, small-scale models of the ‘latest’ luxury cooking apparatus, spanning 1,800 years, from the 2nd century BC Han Dynasty example through to the 16th century AD Ming Dynasty double-burner.

There’s a small collection of Pre-Columbian pottery figures – or rather, some heads absent their bodies, and two with most limbs intact. They come from South American cultures, 500-1500 years old. Once again, they are recently mounted for display.

And there’s many more curious ancient artefacts to browse, with more in preparation for release in the very near future.

General Fresh Stock

Welcome to our latest ‘Fresh Stock’ release. There’s a fine group from across the wide variety we stock, including more Sterling Silver, some terrific glass, useful furniture, and more. Featured also is a collection of Georgian Enamels.

Tudor Silver!

A fascinating piece of Sterling Silver has a story to tell.

It’s Scottish Sterling Silver from the Georgian era, made in Edinburgh in 1809. That alone makes it an item of interest.
However, the base of the bowl is a flat disk: coin-like, in fact….. and when you look closely, the heads of a King & Queen are visible, along with the date ‘1554’. This is a ‘Coin Spoon’. Incorporating coins as bowls in spoons is common in the later 19th century, when they often used obsolete Georgian currency. The silver of the coin, of course, is literally ‘Sterling’ – guaranteed by the Crown to be consistently 92.5%, or .925 parts silver. This meant the entire creation could be assayed as ‘Sterling’ correctly.

Any coin collector must by now be recoiling in horror! This is a rare coin, a commemorative for the marriage of Mary Tudor to Phillip II of Spain.
This is the Mary known to us as ‘Bloody Mary’….. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and strongly Catholic. When her young half-brother, King Edward VI, died aged 15 in 1553, and the removal of the inconvenient Lady Jane Grey from the throne, she ascended the throne as Mary I. The marriage to Phillip II of Spain – her cousin – was her attempt to secure the throne for the Catholic cause; unfortunately the crisis which her father had created by breaking away from the Catholic world meant this was no simple task. Ruling with an iron fist, she had religious opponents killed. Her reign was short, lasting just 4 years until her death in 1558. Waiting patiently in the wings was the ‘Virgin Queen’, Elizabeth I, whose long reign was to lay the foundations for the mighty British Empire that followed in the next few centuries.

In good condition, one might bring over £2,000 today; this example….. probably not!

Georgian Enamels

We have a fine group of these small treasures – the rarest being a ‘cameo’ decorated example, circa 1795. This is directly imitating the Wedgwood jasperware examples of the period, and is the only example of this type we have seen.