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A portfolio of 114 Designs in pencil, pen & ink and watercolour…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
16-Nov-2015
Lot No.
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Description:
A portfolio of 114 Designs in pencil, pen & ink and watercolour depicting a variety of silver and metal objects designed by the relatively unknown silversmith, AJ Cresswell. The portfolio has been created with the designs arranged into a number of categories: the first 2 images are grand centerpieces that have been later coloured in pencil. Plates 3 to 48 are mainly Church Plate including Chalices, Crosses, Children’s (Christening) cups, Ciborium and Thuribles. Plates 49 to 86 are mainly presentation pieces, some in gold, such as vases, claret jugs, trowels, etc. The remainder of the designs, 87 to 114 are of mounted emu eggs, vividly coloured in green watercolour. The back page has a coloured postcard and “King George of Tonga's Crown 48 ½oz. of Gold Manufactor Evan Jones, Designed & Made by A.J.Cresswell Silversmith”. 28 x 25 cm. Little is known or recorded about the Silversmith, AJ Cresswell. This is regrettable, as he was obviously a talented, if anonymous, craftsman and designer. It appears that no item of silver is known to bear any maker’s mark or reference to Cresswell and little is known about Cresswell. AJ Cresswell is listed in the 1883 NSW Trade Directory at Vincent Lane, and again in the 1888 Federal Directory as a Silversmith at Underwood St. Parramatta. It can be seen from some of the designs in this portfolio that Cresswell was producing works for the silver workshops of Sydney Silversmiths, Evan Jones and John J Cohen. Items that until now were considered to be the work of Evan Jones but may have been by the hand of Cresswell, include the Gold Crown of Tonga. Two designs of The 1880 Mercantile Rowing Club Challenge Cup and The 1880 Mayor’s Cup, illustrated in the renowned Nineteenth Century Australian Silver, Volume 1 by John B Hawkins, Plate 122, bear a strong resemblance to images No 66 “Colonial Cup” and No 59 “Cup Trophy”. The mounted emu egg in The Altmann Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, again illustrated in Hawkins, Plate 116 is very similar to image 91. The Lochhead epergne, Hawkins, Plate 113 made for Charles James Robert, Major of Sydney in 1879, which was on display at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition, corresponds to the design of the “Silver Stand”, on the front page of the portfolio. Laurence “Larry” Foley, the undefeated Champion middle weight boxer’s 1879 Champion Belt, part of the Nation Gallery of Australia Collection, is marked by the Sydney Silversmith, John J. Cohen but is illustrated in the portfolio as “Designed and Made by A. Cresswell (Price £100).
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified