Our Fine Jewellery & Watches auction on November 30 includes a metamorphic desk seal once belonging to Lady Sophia Macnamara (nee Hare) (1836-1912). The fifth child and fourth daughter of the 1st Earl of Listowe, Lady Sophia married Arthur Macnamara at Ballyhoole, Cork in 1854 and later settled in Hertfordshire becoming a lady in waiting to Princess Louise (later Duchess of Argyll).
9 November 2021
The seal, fashioned in 15ct gold with a carved white agate pommel handle, was made around 1860 when Lady Sophia and her husband Arthur Macnamara settled in Flamstead.
Lot 45 | A ladies' gold metamorphic desk seal, c.1860
Estimate £2,000-3,000
When ‘closed’ a bloodstone matrix with the family seal (the arms of Macnamara impaling Hare) is visible. However, a hinged base opens to reveal a smaller cornelian matrix engraved with a monogram and a third banded agate intaglio engraved with the name Sophia. It comes for sale with an estimate of £2,000-3,000 from the collection of the late Peter Crofts (1924-2001), a Cambridgeshire antiques dealer whose own story was extraordinary.
After schooling at Wisbech grammar, Peter Crofts, the scion of a local farming family, had volunteered to serve in the Fleet Air Army and subsequently went to the US to train as a pilot. Tragically, on March 25, 1945, a month and a day before his 21st birthday, the engine of his Corsair F4U burst into flames during take-off at US Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Both his legs were amputated and he had spent three and a half years recovering in hospital.
It was under the guidance of the Stamford dealer Major Bernard Edinburgh that he became an antiques dealer and by 1958 was elected a member of the British Antique Dealers Association. Despite his disability, he was a keen sailor, owning an 88-year-old clinker-built Norfolk beach boat.
From all at Sworders, we wish you a very Happy Easter!
28 March 2024
Immerse yourself in luxury this Spring and come to view one of the most extraordinary collections of Louis Vuitton luggage and paraphernalia, going under the hammer on 30 April.
28 March 2024
We are excited to present seventeen lots by the unique and innovative Prunella Clough. This fantastic collection has come from the estate of antique dealer Christopher Bangs (1951-2022). The pair had a working relationship that developed into a deep friendship and the majority of the works on offer have come directly from the artist.
21 March 2024