Rather like something out of "The Last Days of Pompeii" is this wonderful sterling silver tripod tazza, with its Neo-Classical and Psuedo-Renaissance elements combined in great style. Attached chains and pinecones hang between a collar below and a pierced one above with ginko leaves. There is an exquisite monogram very much in the style of the tazza. Gorham Manufacturing Company, date mark for 1870. Superb condition. Approximately 5-1/4 inches high by 6-1/2 inches in diameter.

This is a fine, heavyweight cast sterling silver tripod salver in elegant George II style, its gadrooned border in strongly detailed English rococo curves and shells. The central field is emblazoned with contemporary crested and festooned arms; the feet are in finely crafted Spanish style. Made in London in 1765 to 1766, and weighing approximately 17 ounces, it bears the hallmark of Thomas Hannam and John Crouch (or John Carter)...

During the Age of Opulence that followed the Civil War, Gorham Manufacturing Company often produced silver that exemplified the over-the-top taste of the day, a mad clash of historical styles that could often fit together somehow. Here, however, is a lovely sterling silver compote in pure classical design, and with a date-mark of 1873...

Modeled after a smaller French antique tumbler, these were created in Turkey for San Francisco bon vivant Joseph Donahoe, known as "Turkey Joe," during his diplomatic tenure there in the early part of the last century. They bear the full Turkish hall marks and weigh in at a full three pounds! Condition is excellent, with few signs of age and much of the internal gilding intact...

Classical simplicity is exemplified in this large and elegant cup by Tiffany & Company. The softly textured straight sides rise from a border of laurel leaves in strong relief and are capped by a pearled rim. A sweeping monogram in interlaced script reads, I think, “ELT.” Hallmarks indicating purity at “Eng(lish) Sterling 925-1000” and “G & W” for directors Grosjean & Woodward date the piece to 1854-55. Mint condition...

This is a lovely Aesthetic Movement mug by renowned San Francisco silversmiths Schulz & Fischer, and bearing their 3 mm hallmark of the California State Seal, along with “STERLING” and “S.F.CAL.” The unusual straight-sided body rises above the stepped foot to a broad, elaborate band of lattices and grapevines...

A wonderfully simple mug in rather classical mode is this Gorham piece bearing the date mark for 1876, our centennial year, which marked the beginning of a great interest in artistic styles. It has a a main band of "Florentine" matte finish beautifully engraved with an interlocking "CG" or "GC." Excellent condition, approximately three inches tall and 3-3/4 inches wide at the handle.

A quite baronial product is this straight-sided streling silver mug by the Whiting Manufacturing Company of Providence, R.I. With domino rim top and bottom, it bears a wonderful strapped and banded design over most of the body, centering on a Gothick-style cypher of a K interlocked with E and M. Supeb condition, approximately 3-1/2 inches tall by 4-1/2 inches wide at the handle. Circa 1875.

Very much in the George II style and incorporating a silver coin of that king’s reign in its silver bowl is this extraordinary sauce ladle, perhaps made to fit into a service of earlier manufacture. The handle is chased and engraved in a rococo chinoiserie manner, with fronds and flowers and an oriental parasol finial. The bowl is repousséd with panels of flowers and a shield...

Perhaps a paten cover, this finely wrought dish was a scalloped border of rays and pearls. The marks indicate its provenance and age: Guatemala, probably Cuidad Real, first half of the Eighteenth Century. Diameter approximately 4-3/4 inches.

Incorporating a fortune in Renaissance and later coins, this magnificent set is composed of two large decanters, a covered powder box and a shoe horn. It is marked "Geo.C. Shreve & Co. San Francisco." Circa 1880, superb condition. The decanters are 8-1/2 inches high and 5-1/2 inches wide, the powder box is 5-3/4 inches high and 4-1/4 inches in diameter and the shoe horn is 10-1/4 inches in length and two inches wide at the base...

This 11 by 15-1/4 inch sterling silver is in exceptionally fine condition and of massive weight, a bit over 3-1/2 pounds. It bears the London hallmarks of 1789-90, maker William Simons.