RV
Possibly Richard Vippond
Active: 1830-1857
A Cape silver snuff box, decorated with typical Cape silver engraving, struck twice with an unidentified maker’s mark that requires further research. The snuff box is rectangular, with a plain thumbpiece and gilded interior. The box lid is beautifully engraved, original owners’ initials JM in script, surrounded by oval wreath. The wreath is repeated in rectangular form, with the typically Cape wavy engraved border repeated twice, on the border and around the wreath. Careful examination of the engraved wreath shows the wavy leaves and foliage branch off from the wavy engraved design. The base is engraved with the same wavy borders, with a central rectangular cross hatch design, this looks similar to engine turned engraving but was clearly done by hand. The sides of the snuffbox have engraved bands (a series of dots), this is also present on the base. Similar engraving on Cape silver snuff boxes can be seen in the book “Cape Silver” by Stephan Welz, page 88 figure 1 by Johannes Combrink, and page 89 figure 1. by Lawrence Twentyman, where Welz states “extensive floral engraving on the lid is unusual for a Cape snuff box”. The box is hallmarked with 2 makers marks only, on lid and base, the mark appears to be R.V, with 2 additional dots before the R. The punch also has a clear indent above the R, which obscures the top of the R. The V is very clear, the R is slightly blurred, but visible enough to be reasonably sure it is an R. No RV makers mark has been recorded in the literature, but it could be Richard Vippond (Welz page 142), who worked as a Jeweller, etc and Retailer in Cape Town between 1830 and 1857. He was born in Cork, Ireland in 1804, and married Anne Bridges in the Cape in 1827. His son William Arthur Vippond also worked in the Cape as a watch and clockmaker (circa 1853), it is believed the Vippond family then emigrated to Australia in the mid 1850’s. Given that Vippond worked for 27 years retailing Jewellery etc, it is probable he also sold snuff boxes and could have had his own maker’s punch. Given the clear V surname hallmark, we have also considered if this mark could belong to one of the Vos family of Silversmiths, the most likely candidate being Johan Hedrik Vos (Welz mark 150), whose punches became worn over time, but we think given the dots in the hallmark, and indent to punch, this is unlikely.
Weight: 60 grams
Dimensions: 6.4 cm by 3.8cm
Provenance: Leopard Antiques
