λ GERALD BENNEY (1930-2008), A LARGE AND RARE SILVER AND ENAMEL TABLE BOX

拍品描述

λ GERALD BENNEY (1930-2008)- A LARGE AND RARE SILVER AND ENAMEL TABLE BOX LONDON 1977 The lid inset with red, yellow and green enamels in emulation of racing silks, cedar lined interior, probably for cigars, exterior with bark texture decoration, radial texture to base, enameller marks RVW for Robert Vidal Winter and marked Gerald Benney London 30.5cm wide, 10.2cm high, 13cm deep Literature: The Pearson Silver Collection, Benney & Devlin, Highlights 1952-2000, exhibition catalogue These colours were the racing silks of Sir William's father, Robert Edwin McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of Moffat (23 April 1907 - 7 January 1990) who was an enthusiastic racehorse breeder, owned his own stud at Henley-on-Thames, and was chairman of Sandown Park Racecourse. As John Andrew recounts in the Pearson Exhibition catalogue, Gerald Benney sought inspiration and possible sales beyond the alchemy of silver and gold. He found inspiration in a well-known department store: 'One day in Peter Jones I saw these banks of towels. They were just great banks of colour. I thought, now that is one thing missing in silver - colour'. Travelling to Europe he befriended Berger Bergersen, former head enameller at Meinrad Burch-Korrodi who had previously worked for Bolin, a rival of Fabergé. Mr Bergersen, was persuaded to travel to England to advise the Benney enamelling studio based Beenham House near Reading and the superlative techniques of late 19th century Russia travelled via Sweden and Switzerland to England. By 1971 the Benney workshop had perfected translucent enamels in green, blue and red, and since that date, the initials of the studio's skilled enamellers are generally shown on the silver they enamelled in addition to Gerald Benney's maker's mark. A comparable but smaller box, with white and blue enamel top sold Bonhams London, Decorative Art & Design, 4 September 2019, lot 109.

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