New Zealand silver, gold and jade presentation casket given to Charles Stillman Sperry along with a marquetry box, $11,000 (£8900) at Sotheby’s New York.
Engraved with a view of the port of Auckland to one side and the tattooed face of a Maori chief to the other, it is mounted with gold kiwis and two jade hei tiki.
It carries the words Naumai Ki Akarana (Welcome to Auckland) while an inscription to a gold plaque reads Rear Admiral C. S. Sperry souvenir from the citizens of Auckland on the occasion of the visit of the American fleet to New Zealand August 1908.
Charles Stillman Sperry (1847-1911) was commander in chief, battle fleet under President Theodore Roosevelt.
New Zealand marquetry box given to Charles Stillman Sperry along with a silver, gold and jade presentation casket, $11,000 (£8900) at Sotheby’s New York.
He was presented with this casket, together with an illuminated manuscript housed in a marquetry box, as he led the Great White Fleet during much of its 14-month circumnavigation of the globe “to demonstrate to the world America’s naval prowess”.
It had a $10,000-20,000 guide in the sale of Classic Design, Furniture, Silver and Ceramics and got away at a hammer price of $11,000 (£8900).
