A pair of George II silver eagle-head sauce boats and matching ladles, the boats by Isaac Duke, London, 1747

oval bodies applied with swags of flowers and sprays of berried foliage spreading from rococo cartouches and linking satyr masks applied below the lips, multiple-scroll handles above ruffled leaves ending in eagle heads grasping doves in their beaks, above spirals, cast fluted and molded bases; the similar ladles with eagle-head terminals, fluted shell bowls with scalloped rims and smooth interiors, engraved on shaft with a double-headed eagle crest

Sotheby's, London, 7 March 1957, lot 158
Thomas Lumley Ltd, London
Mrs. Antenor Patiño, New York, sold
Sotheby's, New York, 1 November, 1997, Property from the Collection of Mrs. Antenor Patiño, lots 130-131
Sotheby's, New York, 20 May 2004, lot 78

Michael Clayton, The Collector's Dictionary of Silver and Gold of Great Britain and North America, p. 326, no. 483.

arms removed on both sides, otherwise good
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Isaac Duke was apprenticed to Edward Feline in May, 1724, and became free of the Goldsmiths' Company 4 July 1744.  He entered his mark as a largeworker 15 June, 1743, with the address of Witch (Wych?) Street, near Drury Lane.  Despite the quality of these sauce boats, work bearing his mark is rare.

These boats formed part of the distinguished collection of silver owned by Antenor Patiño, heir to the Bolivian tin fortune, and his second wife Beatriz de Rivera y Digeon.  The couple's lavish lifestyle in Paris on the rue d'Andigné,  the Avenue du Maréchal -Manoury, and Avenue Foch, in Portugal at their Grand Quinta at Estoril, and in New York at 834 Fifth Avenue was succeeded by generous gifts to Versailles and Museu de Arte Antigua, Lisbon, and a series of legendary sales at Sotheby's between 1986 and 2010.