Sir Timothy Colman's rare Norwich silver sold at auction

Five spoons and two beakers carrying the mark of Elizabeth Haselwood were among silver pieces from the estate of the late Sir Timothy Colman, which fetched more than £44,000 when they went under the hammer.

Sir Timothy Colman (Image: EDP©2003)

Mrs Haselwood, who lived from 1644 to 1715, took over a silver-making workshop in Norwich when her husband Arthur Haselwood II died in 1684.

That workshop produced silverware at a time when Norwich was the country's largest city outside London.

The city had its own silver assay office - where the precious metal was tested - during three periods from 1565 to 1702 and was much admired for the quality of its metalworking.

Beakers and spoons were among the Norwich silverware sold at the auction (Image: Sworders)

Aged around 40, Mrs Haselwood ran the business until her death in 1715 and was the only woman silversmith registered in Norwich in the 17th century.

Five of her workshop's spoons, dating from 1675 to 1697 sold at the auction, by Stansted-based fine art auctioneers Sworders, for between £750 and £2,750.

And two beakers sold for thousands of pounds. One from 1688, from the reign of James II, sold to a London buyer for £4,940, while a Norfolk buyer paid £6,000 for one dating to 1697, when William II was king.

A Charles I silver seal top spoon by Mrs Haslewood’s father-in-law Arthur Haslewood I was sold to a Norfolk buyer for £9,750.

And a 1691 tankard made by former Norwich mayor Thomas Havers sold to a London trade buyer for £7,800.

Mrs Haselwood and her husband are buried in the same tomb in St Andrew’s Church in Norwich.

Bixley Manor (Image: Sworders)

Sir Timothy, part of the Colman's Mustard dynasty, died at his home at Bixley Manor, near Norwich, in September 2021 at the age of 91, surrounded by his family.