A pair of Henry VII silver slip-top spoons London, 1501, maker's mark a foot or hand

Sir John Noble 1st Bt. (1865-1938) and thence by descent to his son,

Sir Andrew Noble, 2nd Bt. (1904-1987),

The Property of Sir Andrew Noble, Bart, being part of the Collection formed by the late Sir John Noble, Bart,

Christie's, London, 25 November 1943, lot 114,

The Dor Collection,

Christie's, South Kensington, 10 November 1998, lot 138,

Christie's, London, 25-26 November 2014, lot 440

The Times, Londres, 26 novembre 1943, p.7;

Commander G.E.P. How et J.P. How, English and Scottish Silver Spoons, Medieval to Late Stuart and Pre- Elizabethan Hallmarks on English Plate, Londres, 1952, vol. 1, pp.278-279, pl. 1

The Times; London; 26 November 1943; p.7;

Commander G.E.P. How and J.P. How; English and Scottish Silver Spoons, Medieval to Late Stuart and Pre- Elizabethan Hallmarks on English Plate; London; 1952; vol. 1, pp.278-279, pl. 1

Sir John Noble (1865-1938) attended Eton in 1878, going on to study at Balliol College, Oxford where he was a keen sportsman, representing the University at rackets.

He was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple but soon after joined the Elswick engine manufactory of which his father was chairman. On his father's death in 1915 he bought the family of property of Ardinglas in Argyllshire where he spent the rest of his life.

One of his many interests was silver, and he built up an extensive collection, much of which was sold at Christie's in 1935. A second group of his silver was sold, after his death, by Christie's in 1943

His obituary in The Times (10 January 1938) goes into greater detail:

'He made himself an authority on the subject, and one of the chief enjoyments of his last years was the examination which he made, in company with Sir Arthur Cochrane and Mr Alfred Jones, of the silver belonging to various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. As a result of these visits, inventories, which should be of value to the owners, were made out by Mr Alfred Jones, whose expert knowledge of silver-plate is widely recognized. Sir John lent many of his best pieces to exhibitions in London and elsewhere.'

The 1943 sale of his silver including the famous Stonyhurst salt, now in the British Museum (1958,1004.1) and the two spoons in the present lot. The spoons are mentioned in a saleroom report in The Scotsman (26 November 1943):

'£25,152 for Sir A. Noble's Silver Plate: Commander How, of Edinburgh, was an extensive buyer at the second day's sale of Sir Andrew Noble's silver plate at Christie's, London, yesterday...Two Henry VII slip-top spoons went to another buyer for £460...'