A Victorian silver trophy ewer and stand, the ewer, Smith, Nicholson & Co., the stand, Edward Barnard & Sons, London, 1861

the later inscribed ewer with flattened shaped circular body decorated on either side with a cast scene of Galatea and attendants below a fluted columnar neck, conch-blowing cherub to the hinged cover; the shaped stand with two similar tritons and bold scroll borders

Marks clear to cover, body and stand. The cover a little bruised and does not sit flush to body. The applied leaves to mid-section a little bruised. Plain cartouches to the stand have probably been erased. 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. 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 inscription reads: 'Presented to The Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association of Great Britain and Ireland by Sir William Jury 1935.'

Sir William Jury, British Film Industry Pioneer

William Frederick Jury, who was born on 5 December 1870 in the Bermondsey district of London, was one of the children of Frederick Charles Jury (1839-1895), a waterman (barge) / lighterman and his wife, Sarah Ann (née Sloane, 1839-1907). For the 1891 Census (19 Parfitt Road, Rotherhithe) he is described as an ‘(art) illuminator.’ Later that year, on 30 September, when he married Ellen Marsh at St. James’s, Kennington his profession was that of a ‘Pyrotechnist.’ In fact, his father-in-law, William Charles Marsh (1849-1897), a former slater, had been in the same business for a number of years; his contribution to the Metropolitan and City Police Orphanage’s Great Rustic Fete, on 7 August 1884, for instance, included a ‘GRAND DISPLAY OF FIREWORKS, Extending to General Illuminations, with Electric Lights, Lime Lights, Combinations of Glass, and Variegated Lamps.’¹

Following Marsh’s early death on 7 March 1897 his business appears to have been continued by his son-in-law. Within two years the latter had added films to his repertoire of fireworks and lightshows, giving an early ‘cinematograph exhibition’ at the Winchcombe and Sudeley Flower Show in August 1899.² By 1908 ‘Mr. W.F. Jury’s Animated Pictures’ were being shown at various U.K. venues, the subjects including Australian gold digging, romantic and humours scenes and ‘One very interesting series [which] gives the wonderful and weird ‘’Vision of Salome,’’ as depicted in the dance [by Maud Allan at the Palace Theatre] which is the rage of London.’³ Jury’s enterprise and energy soon led him to immerse himself in almost every branch of the young British film industry. He was one of the earliest and most successful of the film distributors in this country, beginning this side of his business in 1912 and later (1922) becoming chairman of Jury Metro-Goldwyn. In 1916 he became Chairman of the War Office Cinema Committee, which oversaw without remuneration all official newsreel s. For this and other philanthropic services to the industry, Jury was given a knighthood in 1918, the first to be awarded to a member of the trade, ‘an honour seen as marking the arrival of cinema as a socially acceptable cultural activity.’⁴

In October 1935, Sir William purchased Glebelands, a mansion near Wokingham in Surrey (former home of Sir Leslie Wilson, sometime Governor of Queensland) and presented it to the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund, of which he had long been chairman, for use as a convalescent and rest home for some sixty members and former members of the industry.⁵

Sir William Jury died at Caversham on 2 August 1944.

Notes
1. Hampstead and Highgate Express, Saturday, Hampstead, 26 July 1884, p. 2d
2. Gloucestershire Echo, Cheltenham, Thursday, 24 August 1899, p. 3g
3. The Dover Express, Dover, Friday, 4 September 1908, p. 5c
4. Ed Harris, Britain’s Forgotten Film Factory, Stroud, 2012
5. The Era, London, 9 October 1935, p. 3c