The pieces, offered here by his descendants, were all loaned to the Herbert Museum in Coventry after Poke’s death and remained there until 1996. Although all bar nine of the Poke pieces sold and four of those went after the auction, prices didn’t fly away. This was probably down to a combination of bullish estimates, and factors such as some of the potential best-sellers having later armorials or gilding that not everyone thought was original.
The top lot in this consignment was a set of 24 George I silver-gilt dinner plates, Britannia standard pieces by John Edwards, London, 1720.
Known as the Paget Plates, their engraved baronet’s coronet and arms are thought to be for Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (1663-1743) or his son Thomas Catesby Paget. Frederick Poke had acquired them in two tranches, buying a dozen at Christie’s in 1950, with the other 12 coming from Thomas Lumley, one of his main silver suppliers. These went on low estimate at £120,000.
Following these, again at a lower estimate price of £60,000, was a set of three, 50oz silver gilt casters by Peter Archambo 1735, with later armorials, the largest 9in (22cm) high.
One Poke entry that did take off was the 12oz, 8in (21cm) diameter silver strawberry dish, pictured below, marked for Joseph Walker, Dublin 1710, which made a double-estimate £15,000. The result shows the continued strength of the market for good Irish silver, especially if accompanied by an attractive estimate.
The fruit of Frederick Poke’s collecting
A sizeable slice, almost a quarter of Sotheby’s sale on 20 November, was provided by one consignment, the 48 lots of silver and silver-gilt from the collection of the late Frederick Poke, an old school collector whose catholic tastes also included English furniture, Old Masters and Impressionist paintings.
