Silver does not necessarily have to be old to be considered for inclusion in an antiques sale.
You wouldn’t, for example, be turned away at any auction house if you took along a piece of Georg Jensen, or a Cartier trinket, that you had purchased brand new on the way to the saleroom.
Today’s item has a wee bit of age – in one sense.
It is a silver model of the Coronation Chair, the crowning throne of the monarchs in Westminster Abbey and one of the most precious and famous pieces of furniture in the world.
The oak chair has been the centrepiece of coronations for over 700 years. It was made by order of King Edward I to enclose the famous Stone of Scone, which he brought from Scotland to the Abbey in 1296.
The stone was originally enclosed under the seat – as seen on the model illustrated – though it was, of course, returned to Scotland in recent times.
Hallmarked for London 1970, and just four inches tall, the model was made by Richard Lawton, a Sheffield silversmith who registered many designs between 1970 and 1990. I know, for example, his firm was commissioned by Rolls-Royce in 1977 to produce its famous ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ car mascot as a silver presentation desk ornament in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
I have seen a similarly-sized Coronation Chair in sterling silver from c.1902, about 70 years earlier than the illustrated throne, but the seat of the Edwardian chair was padded as a pincushion.
The Lawton model appeared at David Duggleby Auctions of Scarborough earlier this month where it attracted an £80 bid.
