Rebecca Emes & Edward Barnard George III Chinoiserie Sterling Silver Master Salts, London, 1818/19 - Set of 4

These rare salts were made in the shop of the famous partnership of Rebecca Emes and Edward Barnard which produced magnificent silver. These large salts have an applied rim decorated with scrolling foliage and shells.

Around the bulbous bodies are repousséd scenes of various flowers. There is a cartouche engraved with the crest of a bird's head. Chinese figures make up the upper parts of the feet where they attach to the bowls. Foliage terminating with shell pad feet make up the lower sections of the feet.

Rebecca Emes is one of England's most famous women silversmiths. She was the widow of the important silversmith John Emes and went into partnership with Edward Barnard not long after John's death in 1807. Her firm made some exceptional silver during the height of the regency period in England, some of their items being sold by the royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, - the same firm that retailed Paul Storr's silver. (See Women Silversmiths by Glanville & Goldsborough.)

These stunning salts are fully hallmarked underneath. They measure 3.75 inches in diameter by just over 1.75 inches high, weigh an impressive combined 25.35 troy ounces and are in excellent antique condition with wear to the interior gilding.