Pair of Butter Shells, 1834 by Edward Farrell

This fine pair of William IV period silver butter shells were made by one of the top silversmiths of the day - Edward Farrell.

These butter dishes have a terrific feeling of quality with a good weight and excellent decoration; they are superior in quality to the vast majority of other Georgian silver butter shells. The thumbplates are mounted with a bold gadroon border and engraved with a finely executed engraving of a crest depicting a bear's paw holding an arrow. The shells stands on three openwork feet and are in fine condition throughout.