A set of fourteen William Snelling Hadaway silver and enamel dishes

Price:  >£10,000+

For sale is this quite astonishing set of fourteen William Hadaway silver dishes.  Each dish is inset with an enamel of a fish, with one dish having an enamel of a lobster.  The condition, colour and quality of the enamels is excellent.   The handles of the dishes are of galleons.  There are two different galleon handle designs throughout the set, seven of each style.  Thirteen of the fourteen dishes are dated for London 1910, one is london 1906 (not the lobster!).  Provenance is to a private collection who acquired the dishes at Christies 13th May 1998 lots 286 and 287.

All the dishes are marked for Hadaway, and additionally all carry the LD sponsors mark which is seen ocassionally on Hadaway pieces.  LD is typicaly assumed to be the retailer and jewellery supplier Louis Charles Dettmer, trading from Poland Street.

William Snelling Hadaway (1872-1941) was an American artist specialising in metal design, jewellery and book illustration. He moved to London in 1897 and worked as a silversmith and teacher. In  around 1908 he took the post of Superintendent at the Madras Government School of Arts, which he held until 1927 (Culme, Directory of Gold & Silversmiths, p202).  Alongside the likes of Charles Ashbee and Edward Spencer, Hadaway’s work was much featured and commended in the Studio. His archive is held at the Victoria & Albert Museum .

Maker:  William Snelling Hadaway

Designer:  William Snelling Hadaway

Date: 1910 (one 1906)

Marks: WSH, London, “p”

Material: Sterling silver and enamel

Condition: Excellent, original

Size: 18.5 cm diameter (max), 4 cm high

Weight: 3,570 grams (including enamels, probably onto copper)