Amended - A rare George II Irish antique sterling silver cream jug, Dublin circa 1740 by John Hamilton

Of helmet form with double ‘C’ scroll handle with acanthus thumbpiece, all raised upon three lion paw legs with tail coiled around and lion mask knees, the body decorated with flat chased strap work and shells with reverses of lattice work and matted grounds, each side with a rococo cartouche, one engraved with a crest of a spear erect issuing from a ducal coronet, surmounted by a Viscounts coronet. Marked underneath, with a maker’s marks I.H and then stamped ‘sterling’ multiple times over itself (?).

Height - 10.5 cm / 4.1 inches

Weight – 233 grams / 7.49 ozt

The crest is for Viscount Anton (created 1806, in 1831 the 2nd Viscount was made the 1st Earl of Litchfield)

For a Limerick cream jug, with the same form of feet, see Adams of Dublin, Dublin, Slane Castle Country House Collections, 12th October 2014, lot 546

Previously catalogued as Limerick circa 1770 by John Hackett (?), the re-attribution is made by stylistic comparison to other Hamilton jugs however the I.H mark here does not seem to possess the crown above. The other mark remains unidentified. There is a near identical example by Hamilton in the National Museum of Ireland.