In the manner of Paul de Lamerie, circa 1729-1739, Pair of rocaille sauce boats. Photo Sotheby's

dolphin handle, bodies simulating shells, apparently unmarked, silver; length: 21cm., 8 1/4 in.; weight: 1137gr., 36oz 10dwt. Estimation 6,000 — 8,000 GBP.

Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 20 March 1980, lot 215

A few example of these unusual sauceboats, with Paul de Lamerie's hallmark, are recorded as follows: a pair, dated 1729, from the late Mrs Mary Montagu, sold Sotheby's London, 11 November 1993, lot 462; another pair, with the crest of Thomas Weddell (1667-1747), dated 1730, sold Sotheby's London, 9 November 1995, lot 246 ; and a third pair, with the arms of Hewer, Norfolk, dated 1738, is illustrated by Michael Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of the Silver and Gold of Great Britian and North America, 2nd edition, Woodbridge, 1985, no. 480a. A fourth pair, with the arms of Congreve, dated 1739, is in the Hartman Collection, illustrated by Christopher Hartop, The Huguenot Legacy, London, 1996, fig. 30. As the author notes, ''the individuality of the dolphins and the way in which their tails entwine the scrolls at the bottom of the handles, are the work of a virtuoso'.

Sotheby's. 1000 Ways of Seeing: The Private Collection of the late Stanley J. Seeger. London | 05 mars 2014, 10:00 AM. www.sothebys.com