Lot 63: A Pair of Victorian Hallmarked Sterling Silver Dressing Table Brushes, Henry Matthews, Birmingham, 1897
This set comprises a matching hallmarked sterling silver hairbrush and clothes brush by the silversmith Henry Matthews. The silver mounts are executed in the Rococo Revival style, featuring dense embossed decoration of foliate scrolls, flower heads, and C-scrolls against a textured ground. Both pieces incorporate a central shield-shaped cartouche; the hairbrush cartouche is engraved with a light monogram, while the clothes brush cartouche remains vacant. The hairbrush is designed with a tapering handle featuring spiral-fluted ornamentation. Each item is constructed with a thin embossed sterling silver mount fitted over a wooden base with natural bristles. The silver mounts bear a full set of English hallmarks: maker mark HM for Henry Matthews, the anchor symbol for the Birmingham Assay Office, the lion passant certifying sterling silver purity, and the date letter x for 1897. The hairbrush additionally carries the registered design number RD 290885.
Hairbrush: 24 cm in length
Clothes brush: 16.5 cm in length.
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