John Culme, who for many years has been connected with Sotheby's Silver Department, is author of several books and articles, including The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1838-1914, published in 1987, and co-author with Nicholas Rayner of The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. He is also a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company, London. Picking up my theme that canny silver buyers have never had it so good, Country Life excitedly reported this week (11 February) that “changes in lifestyle have wrought havoc with the silver market” despite a recent steep rise in the bullion value of silver from £3 to £6 an ounce.
Flying in the face of the strong results in a flurry of auctions before Christmas (reported elsewhere on this page) the magazine declares that “display silver isn’t fashionable”. The investment advice is to buy work by late twentieth century silversmiths such as Gerald Benney, Leslie Durbin and (my personal favourite) Malcolm Appleby. I don’t disagree that collecting post-war British silver is an enriching and potentially rewarding experience.
We are very keen to promote contemporary silversmithing on My Family Silver, hence our support of British Silver Week. But I do object to the oft-repeated stereotype that antique silver is somehow redundant as if a modern teapot is technologically superior to one made in the eighteenth century. Country Life also states, without any evidence, that “abundant 18th and 19th century pieces have dropped in value significantly”. Well, I haven’t seen that but I do accept that there is an awful lot of silver out there looking for a new owner. The reason why? Our ancestors viewed their silver as a decorative addition to their domestic lives not, as we all too often do, as an expensive liability to be insured and (worse!) cleaned. We need to re-adjust our cultural approach to this wonderful material and get it back on the table and into everyday use. I do agree with Country Life on one point, however. Echoing my recent message, the magazine reports that “canteens of good cutlery…can be bought for less than the cost of new stainless steel - good news if you need cutlery”.
My question is, Who doesn’t?
