THE TICKTUM COLLECTION

This chapter quite naturally falls into the two sections Dublin and Provincial.

We have been very lucky in respect of the items collected as they have virtually all come in via general purchases within the business. Hardly any have been the result of specific purchases to fill gaps, but some have been acquired at small auctions unrecognised.

Irish provincial silver is notoriously difficult to identify by obscure makers, and we have the two conjectural pieces. One possibly Belfast but Mauritius and Malta have also been suggested, the little salt spoons are fascinating with two possible locations as wide apart as Galway and New Zealand.

Dublin

Our collection is quite varied spanning as it does the whole of the 18th century, various sizes, some very well known makers and even the odd Fancy Back.

None of the items are particularly rare although the Brightcut Baster is exceptional, the Brightcut snuff spoon very unusual and the Strainer very fine.

Provincial

At this point in time our positively identified items only cover Cork and Limerick. As we do not see it as a core part of the main collection it is doubtful that we will attempt to obtain examples of the very rare and obscure locations which occasionally surface at auction, and which inevitably fetch very high prices when they do.

A number of the pieces we have been fortunate to acquire are quite rare. In particular the Begheagle Hanoverian and Nicholson Baster from Cork, together with the Buck, Ricket and Burke Hanoverians from Limerick.