GOLD DESSERT SERVICE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27037, 12 May 1953, Page 10

GOLD DESSERT SERVICE

Coronation Set on Sale 56 PIECES AT RETAIL PRICE OF £27,000 (From the London Correspondent of "The Press") LONDON, April 29. If any millionaire feels like buying his wife a handsome present this year, salesmen at the famous goldsmiths and art dealers firm of Aspreys in New Bond street will be happy to show them a unique collection, the latest work of their craftsmen. Made in solid gold, the collection is a Coronation dessert, coffee and liqueur service of 56 pieces weighing more than 501 b. The price is a mere £27,000. The 'fabulous set was revealed this week in the firm’s elegant showrooms in Mayfair. Guarded by a dozen private detectives in morning suits who mixed unobtrusively with the guests, the set consists of a large oval fruit dish weighing about 51b, fruit and sweet dishes, a pair of candelabra, dessert knives and forks, four ashtrays, a coffee pot and tray ( sugar ana cream jugs, and liqueur tots ana salver. Handmade by craftsmen in the firm’s workshops above their Bond street premises, the set has taken more than a year to complete. Rough sketches of the designs were made first and then after full-scale colour drawings of the set had been approved, the craftsmen set to work on the flat sheets of gold supplied by bullion merchants. After cutting, the sheets were placed in a forge and annealed, then raised by hand to the required shapes. Decorations were added and with their fine steel chisels and hammers, the craftsmen completed the delicate chasing and engravjpg on the Bet. Each piece carries the hallmarks of tile firm’s own trade mark of a leopard’s head, the letter “R” representing the year 1953, a crown and figure “18” for the carat of the gold and a special hallmark of the Queen’s head for Coronation year. And if any buyer wants any additional nieces for the set, the firm will be pleased to make them.

“Made for Posterity” Mr E. Asprey, managing director of the firm, told reporters that the set had been made for posterity as an example of the superb craftsmanship and design prevailing in Britain in 1958. His firm had decided to make the set during Coronation year to encourage the goldsmiths’ art at a critical period of its existence and to establish London as a leading centre for works of art in gold.

Alsq for sale at £20,000 were two solid gold cigar boxes, one portraying Coronation scenes on a background of lapis lazuli with a fine engraving of Westminster Abbey, two brush sets, a crocodile dressing set with gold fittings, a writing set and a cigarette case in four colours of gold. There have been no firm inquiries for the sets as yet. But prospective buyers would do well to remember that the gold collection presents no problems for washing up. The pieces only have to be washed in warm water and then given a light rubbing after use to retain their brilliance. Polishing affects the shine as well as removing minute quantities of gold.