Lot 178
THE ROBERT WESTLEY HALL-DARE DESK SEAL
AN EARLY 19TH CENTURY BANDED AGATE AND BLOODSTONE SEAL
Auction: 16 September 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
The facetted fluted banded agate stem to a gold collar with scroll detail, the pierced domed mount to a circular bloodstone matrix, engraved with the coat of arms and motto of Robert Westley Hall-Dare
Dimensions
8.7cm overall, 2cm x 1.6cm (matrix)
Provenance
The Matrix Collection
Footnote
Robert Westley Hall-Dare (1789-1836)
Born in British Guiana where the family were slave owners for their plantation
He was appointed High Sherrif of Essex in 1821 and MP for South Essex, after his marriage in 1823 to the heiress Elizabeth Grafton, the half-sister of John Marmaduke Grafton Dare, Robert added Dare to his name. The family home was at Cranbrook House in Essex.
He served in the army in the West Indies and the Peninsula War.
The British Museum holds a satirical print, a caricature of Robert Westley Hall Dare and John Thompson slicing a round pudding labelled 'Ilford to Romford', cutting along a line marked Ripple to Clements, with a picture on the wall behind of overseer beating a kneeling slave in chains. c.1818 accession number 1948,0214.811