Essay

The earliest silver honey skeps on stands would appear to be at least three from 1798. One sold by Sotheby's, the property of Corby Castle, 19th November, 2025, lot 148. Another by Thomas Hobbs and James Taylor, Sotheby's New York, The Charles Poor Collection, 26th October, 2005, lot 8. The third by Paul Storr sold at Toovey's Auctioneers, 29th November, 2023, lot 500. The best examples, not surprisingly, tend to be those by the great regency silversmith Paul Storr. The finials were usually cast as a bee taking nectar from a flower. Furthermore he changed the construction so that the base unscrewed allowing a glass liner to be inserted or removed.

They are not common and even harder to find with their original stands. Other makers of these charming objects include John Emes, Emes and Barnard and Daniel Pontifex.

Thomas Wallis was apprenticed to his uncle and entered his first mark in 1778. He was still working in 1810 when he went into partnership with Jonathan Hayne. This connection lasted till 1821 and Wallis died on June 10th 1836.