Historically Important Victorian Silver Tea & Coffee Set

A historically important Victorian silver tea and coffee set, presented to Francis Pettit-Smith, inventor of the screw propellor, in 1856, comprising a coffee pot, a tea pot, a cream jug, a sugar basin and a pair of tongs, worked in high relief repousse and chased decoration with rocailles and scrolls, two with birds of prey finials and each piece engraved with the initials ‘FPS’, the two pots engraved with the sailing ship ‘ARCHIMEDES’ and a long dedication (see footnote), with assay marks for Edward Barnard & Sons of London, 1855, all in a mahogany box bearing a donor’s plaque ‘Presented to Worshipful Company of Shipwrights by Messrs. J.Stone & Company (Charlton) Ltd’ March 1957’ and inside a maker’s plaque stating ‘Samuel Dixon, Goldsmith’ and ‘24 Bishopsgate StWithin, London’, with a key and the original plush lining. English, 1856. Provenance: Sir Francis Pettit-Smith Worshipful Company of Shipwrights