Early Silver Salt Pot, 1792 by Frisbee & Storr

This is an extremely early example of a piece of Paul Storr silverware in the form of a lovely neoclassical salt pot.

This vase-shaped, 2-handled, Georgian salt cellar stands on a pedestal foot and is engraved to one side with a crest featuring a lion. The interior retains its original gilt finish to protect the silver from the corrosive effects of salt and the piece is in excellent condition.

Dating from the final decade of the 18th century, this silver salt pot is fully hallmarked to the underside and includes the very rare WF/PS mark for William Frisbee and Paul Storr. Storr was originally apprenticed to Andrew Fogelberg from 1785 to 1792, before he and Frisbee became partners on May 2nd 1792.

Paul Storr subsequently entered his first mark alone on January 12th, 1793 and so the WF/PS maker's mark was only used for seven months. The majority of WF/PS pieces are marked with the date letter "r" for (29th May 1792 - 28th May 1793), so this piece with date letter "q" must have been one of the very first pieces he made as a partner within the business.

The date letter representing the year was changed at Goldsmiths Hall on May 29th each year, with date letter "q", as seen on this salt pot, in use from May 29th, 1791 until May 28th 1792. It can therefore be deduced that this salt pot was made within the first twenty-six days of the Frisbee/Storr partnership, making it a very rare hallmark indeed!

Storr went on to produce some of the most fantastic pieces of silver for the next forty years with his work represented in Royal collections around the world. He has become the most celebrated English silversmith of the 19th century.