Alicia Rogers
We peek into the busy working life of the silver specialist based at Mallams auctioneers in Oxfordshire
I love the whole process of auctions, from getting up into a dusty attic discovering a collection of old silver wrapped in newspaper that hasn’t been touched for 100 years, to researching provenance and cataloguing items for sale. I was 18 years old when I got my first job as a general valuer and saleroom assistant at Phillips auctioneers in London – I had a place at university to read History of Art but the job came up during a work placement and I took it. I’ve got absolutely no regrets about bypassing university.
After a stint at Bonhams, I joined Mallams in 2015 and a year later inherited the silver department – I’ve always liked silver and have seen a lot of it over the years doing house content valuations. We have three dedicated sales a year and recent highlights include a set of three Georgian tea caddies from the 1770s, kept inside a fitted case, and a provincial coffee pot made in Falmouth, Cornwall. A collection of late-Victorian nature- inspired scent bottles, including a bird’s egg, walnut and an acorn, made by Sampson Mordan, were also lovely.
RIGHT An early silver coffee pot by Sampson Bennett, 1759, sold for £3,302; set of three silver tea caddies by Daniel Smith and Robert Sharp, 1770, in fitted silver mounted tortoiseshell case, sold for £10,922.
I go out visiting clients every day, mainly in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, sometimes with a colleague. Often it’s not very glamorous and I’ve learned to never judge what’s inside a home from the exterior. The not knowing what you’re going to find is the exciting thing about this job. A while ago I found a wonderful antique necklace rolled up in some socks – the owners knew it was there somewhere. At another routine house call with a bit of everything I spotted a silver tea service with uncommon marks; it had been made in Cork and turned out to be quite rare. I love the unusual, and everything has a story. mallams.co.uk