Price range: Reserved

Another “lockdown” posting for a diminutive piece with a huge punch. This is for sale. It is a rare Liberty & Co Cymric silver pepper hallmarked London 1898, date letter “c”. This is an early design and the earliest hallmark for a Liberty & Co Cymric piece. The Cymric range was launched in May 1899, just one week prior to the start of the 1899 London assay year date letter “d”, so it is quite possible this is an actual piece from that exhibition.  The pepper is Exhibit 28 in the May 1899 Liberty Cymric catalogue, named the Thorian (a Norse derivation from Thor). The original design drawing is held at the Museum of Domestic design and Architecture, Middlesex University (SD 8158).

This piece is such an unequivocal Knox design that is one of the only, maybe the only, known piece that provides a link between Knox, the Silver Studio, and the early Cymric range.  Speaking as someone who championed Oliver Baker and Haseler as the true originators of the Cymric range I think this unequivicollay shows the Cymric range had its roots in London, with Liberty and the Silver Studio, as well as Birmingham and Haseler and Baker.  It is priced accordingly.

Only a handful of Cymric pieces with the date letter for 1898 exist, one of which is in the V & A museum (ref: circ 320- 1976).

Maker: Liberty & Co

Designer: Archibald Knox

Date : 1898

Marks: Ly & Co Liberty mark, London, date latter “c”

Material: Sterling silver

Condition: Excellent

Size: 6.5 cm high, 4.25 cm wide

Weight : 56 grams, 2 oz