Spanish silver bernegal, c.1650, priced at £31,500 from Mayflower Antiques.
The central spike is designed for a bezoar nut, believed to possess magical power to prevent poisoning.
It is one of the highlights in one of the specific exhibitions on dealer’s individual stands at this year’s Cotswold Art & Antiques Dealers’ Association Fair.
Featuring in a special show of Spanish and Portuguese colonial pieces staged by Mayflower Antiques, the “fine and rare” Spanish silver bernegal, marked on the side of the bowl for Zaragosa, c.1650, is priced at £31,500.
The display showcases “rare items from a period not really known about these days”. Christopher Hamlyn of Mayflower Antiques, in Stourbridge, is currently working on a book to accompany the exhibition.
Spanish silver bernegal, c.1650, priced at £31,500 from Mayflower Antiques.
History making
From November 17-19 some 27 dealers, mainly CADA members along with some guest exhibitors, are taking part for the third year in succession at the venue of Compton Verney in Warwickshire.
The annual event coincides this year with Compton Verney’s exhibition History in the Making: Highlights from Woburn and the Crafts Council.
A longer preview of the fair will appear in a later edition of ATG.
