Lot 273: AN AUSTRALIAN SILVER-MOUNTED MAHOGANY THREE BOTTLE INKSTAND, THE SILVER WITH THE MARKS OF JACOB JOSEPHSON OF SYDNEY, 'ONE OF THE FIRST SILVERSMITHS TO WORK IN AUSTRALIA' (J.B. HAWKINS), CIRCA 1818

AN AUSTRALIAN SILVER-MOUNTED MAHOGANY THREE BOTTLE INKSTAND, THE SILVER WITH THE MARKS OF JACOB JOSEPHSON OF SYDNEY, 'ONE OF THE FIRST SILVERSMITHS TO WORK IN AUSTRALIA' (J.B. HAWKINS), CIRCA 1818 the rectangular base with a single detachable drawer with unmarked small silver drop handle, further applied with beaded borders, central swing handle, and three detachable cut-glass bottles with detachable silver covers (in the style of London work of the 1780s), one pierced and engraved, the others engraved with the initials TP 28.7cm, 11 1/4 in wide

The swing handle and the detachable bottle covers of this inkstand are all struck with the maker's mark JJ together with two other pseudo marks. These have been identified as those of the Sydney retailer Jacob Josephson. For illustrations of further pieces bearing these marks and information about Josephson, a Prussian national (b. 1774) who was convicted for forgery in England before being transported to Australia in 1819, see J.B. Hawkins, Nineteenth Century Australian Silver, Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, 1990, vol. I, pp. 39-45.