The highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s sale of Scottish Silver & Applied Arts on August 16 was a Jacobite drinking glass with a difference.
Why the need for a silver repair to this relatively simple, plain 18th century vessel?
Bruce of Cowden family history suggests that – during a visit by Bonnie Prince Charlie himself in advance of the ‘45 rebellion – the glass was broken after a toast was given to ‘The King Over the Water’. It was traditional to break a glass after drinking a toast to save a lesser tribute being drunk from it.