An Arts & Crafts silver, enamel and gem-set powder/biscuit box and cover, Oliver Baker for Liberty & Co., Birmingham, 1899

the body of compressed bulbous form with engraved patination and green enamelled band, the cover detailed with eight green-enamelled panels centred with alternating turquoise and fire opals, around a central raised turquoise set handle/finial, the edge engraved in Latin: MEMORIAM REFECTIONIS KENNETHI MACKINTOSHII MIRABILIS SERVARE "PERICULOSAE PLENUM OPUS ALAE", "CLINTON THOMAS DENT MC.FRCS"

Given by Kenneth Mackintosh to Clinton Thomas Dent MC. FRCS., M.C.CANTAB.

Thence by family descent.

Anthony Bernbaum, 'More light of the Liberty Cymric metalwork venture: An evaluation of the contribution of Oliver Baker', The Journal of The Silver Society, London 2010, Number 26, p.98-111

The body with a couple of small bruises, surface a little worn. The enamel in generally good order with a couple of small minor losses to the edges. Otherwise good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The translation from Latin reads:

To Preserve The Memory Of Marvellous Recovery Of Kenneth Mackintosh. An Undertaking Full Of Danger And Hazard.

The Latin poet Horace (65 BC - 8 BC), in an ode, said to the historian Gaius Asinus Pollio, who was writing of the civil war of Caesar and Pompey: "Periculosae plenum opus alae Tractas, et incedis per ignes Suppositos cineri dolosi", which translates as 'an undertaking full of danger and hazard and you will walk upon fires placed beneath deceitful ashes'.

By family repute the present lot was given by Kenneth Mackintosh to Clinton Dent as a gift of thanks for dangerous surgery carried out in the late 19th century.

Clinton Thomas Dent (1850-1912) was an English surgeon, author and mountaineer who attempted the few remaining unclimbed mountains in the Alps in the Victorian 'Silver Age' of Alpinism. After first tackling the then unclimbed peaks of the Lenzpitze (4,294 metres) and the Zinalrothorn (4,221 metres), Dent turned his attention to the Grand Aiguelle due Dru (3,754 metres), a steep granite peak in the Mont Blanc massif. After 18 failed attempts he at last reached the summit with his team on 12 September 1878 where he commented that '...it affords the most continuously interesting rock climb with which I am acquainted.' As president of the Alpine Club from 1886-89 Dent, alongside some of the great mountaineers of the era, including Albert Mummery, was involved in the ill-fated first ascent of Gestola (4,860 metres), Russia, in which four colleagues disappeared in a snowstorm. Upon his return he wrote several books, including Above the Snowline and Mountaineering in the 1800s, where he suggested that an ascent of Mount Everest was one day possible. He wrote further on 'post surgical insanity' and heart surgery, practising as a senior surgeon at the St. George's Hospital medical school and later becoming the chief surgeon to the Metropolitan Police.

Oliver Baker (1856-1939) was born into an artistic middle class Birmingham family with his father a renowned water colourist and member of the Royal Academy. Baker, in his early years, actually studied under his father at the Birmingham School of Art before following in his steps as a water colourist and running a gallery in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although he too exhibited at the R.A. this venture proved unsuccessful and unprofitable and by 1897, at aged 40, his diaries suggest that he began designing silver. In 1897 he was approached and invited by his brother-in-law, the recognised silversmith William Haseler, along with a few other Birmingham artists, to design a new range of distinctive and innovative silverware for his firm. By 1898 many of these new designs had been executed but were considered too avant-garde for Haseler's clients. He therefore came to London and found a buyer in Liberty & Co, a company synonymous with selling the most fashionable and avant-garde wares of their day. Liberty's launched the Cymric range in May 1899 with the present lot found as No.1 on Pages 32-33 of the exhibition catalogue. Here the piece is described as a Silver and Enamelled Powder Box, Cover Set with Mexican Opals and Turquoise. Height: 4 inches. Price, £7 15s.

Interestingly the present example shares all these traits except the height, standing 1 1/2 in. higher at 5 1/2 inches. A similar, larger example can be found in pewter, in Liberty's Tudric range, standing 6 1/2 inches high and described as a "Biscuit Box" but lacking the Cymric ornamentation. The fact that the piece is hallmarked for Birmingham, 1899, bearing the Liberty & Co sponsors mark is also interesting as Haseler would have been executing these designs at this date. However, as the relationship between Haseler and Liberty's was active at this point, it is likely the example was seen at the May 1899 exhibition before a variation was subsequently commissioned by one of Liberty's wealthy patrons later that year.

Baker's time in designing for Liberty & Co ended in around 1906, but not before laying the foundations for other leading designers at the firm, including the eminent Archibald Knox. In the quest for the 'New Movement' Baker provided Liberty with the avant-garde designs and stylistic re-invigoration necessary, not only to counter the works emanating from the Arts & Crafts guilds of the period, but also to inspire 20th century designers at home and abroad to escape the rigidity in design and construction synonymous with the majority of the 19th century.