Tain - a rare Scottish provincial quaich
£15,000
Auction: 13 February 2008 at 11:00 GMT
Description
by Hugh Ross II of Tain, circa 1740, marked HR (conjoined) to the rim, the circular bowl engraved with eight simple staves and girdle to exterior, the twin shaped lugs with down swept ends, with hatched border and engraved initial *GW and *SD, on simple collet foot rim
Dimensions
diameter of bowl 8.5cm, width across lugs 14.3cm, 3.3oz
Footnote
Notes: This extremely rare survival of Tain silver is a newly recorded item of Scottish provincial silver. While items of holloware by this maker are known they are amongst the most sought after in Scottish silver.
The main holdings of Tain holloware are in institutional collections and only a small proportion is available to the market. One other quaich has been recorded which is presently in a private Scottish collection.
Although the lugs to the other known example are of a less conventional form there are some distinct similarities to both pieces. Both the weight and the diameter of the bowl are very similar and the period seems to match very closely.
The maker's mark employed on this piece has also been used on various other items of Tain silver; both hollow and flatware, both struck as makers mark only and in conjunction with other known Tain marks such as the St Duthac punch and 'TAIN' town punch.
It should be noted that this mark also appears to have been the same punch as that struck to the thistle cup sold in these rooms 'A private collection of fine Scottish and Provincial silver' 19th February 2004, lot 265, (£22,000) which is now in the collection at Tain Museum.
The way this mark has been struck to the outer rim of the piece does at first appear slightly unusual but when considered that this style of marking became the fashion with the Edinburgh silversmiths at this and earlier times it does seem to make sense. Rim marking such as this is a common sight on quaichs by James Tait and Colin Mackenzie etc of Edinburgh (see lot 366 for an example by C Mackenzie). It seems very likely that Hugh Ross is imitating this fashion