Whyte's THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR TIMED ON-LINE AUCTION 18 APRIL 2026

8 5 1659-1660. An extremely rare Cromwellian period Irish silver porringer. A Commonwealth/Charles II Irish silver two-handled porringer, known as the ‘IS’ Porringer, maker’s mark unidentified, Dublin c.1659/60, of plain form with scroll handles, engraved ‘IS’ within a wreath, 16cm long from handle to handle, 6.75cm high, 9oz 3dwts See ‘Four selected assay records of the Dublin Goldsmith’s Company’ by Thomas Sinsteden, The Silver Society Journal, Autumn 1999, pp143/156, with regard to the date letter ‘b’ for 1659/60: ‘In the ‘quarterages ledger’ of 1659 one finds a notation ‘Order that the letter b a small roman capital letter be struck by the assay master upon all the silver plate which shall be brought to his office and approved of by him after the day of the date here until the first of November next’. This is the only record telling us the date of change over. In addition, see ‘A reappraisal of date letters used 1638-1759’ by Ida Delamer and Conor O’Brien, The Silver Society Journal, Autumn 1999, pp158/167, the date letter ‘b’ for Dublin 1659/60 . The porringer is recorded in ‘Irish Stuart Silver’ by Tony Sweeney, Dublin 1995, p43, no.205 under 1659/60 Commonwealth Domestic Plate as “The ‘I.S’ Porringer”. Dublin Maker - Joseph Stoaker or John Slicer. An excessively rare piece of Irish secular silver; the only recorded piece from this period. Condition: Light scratches and rubbing, very fine for its age. Provenance: Sold for £3000 (the equivalent of €61,000 in 2020) by How of Edinburgh at the 1967 Grosvenor House Antique Dealers’ Fair. [The Dr Kurt Ticher Archive].’; Private collection; Sworders, 30 November 2016, lot 201; Private collection ‘Irish Stuart Silver’ by Tony Sweeney, Dublin, 1995, p.43, no.205. Estimate €30,000-€50,000 (approx £26,090-£43,480) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 5