Since York was a main Assize town, it is possible that the Judge who probably did not need this in London may have needed to carry one with him and had one made in York, a major provincial silver city.
At 6in (15cm) tall and 21/2in (6.5cm) in diameter at the base, both pieces (top and bottom) are marked for Barber & Whitwell.
In the entries for Barber & Whitwell in the York assay register for 1817, a powder box is listed, and because the book entries are not extensively detailed, that could apply to this wig powderer. If anyone has further information regarding it, the vendor, Hymie Dinerstein of the London Silver Vaults, who is offering it for sale for £3000, would be delighted to hear from them: Vault 135 (by appointment only), London Silver Vaults, 53 Chancery Lane, London,WC2A 1QS. Email: Hymie@dinerstein.co.uk
... in the Silver Vaults
THIS wig powderer was made in York in 1817. Described in Michael Clayton’s book The Collector’s Dictionary of Silver & Gold of Great Britain & North America as “a tapering cylinder, from the cover of which rises a tube with a mouth of spherical form,” this type is dated to around 1800.
