Cash and carry... Friends dig deep to secure silver salver

The salver, which dates back to 1764, commemorates the marriage of Sir Rowland Winn 5th Baronet to Sabine d’Hervart, a Swiss heiress, in 1764.

It is not known when or how the salver left Nostell Priory, near Wakefield, but the Friends have stepped in to help the National Trust return the salver to its original home.

It was up for sale at Bonham’s in Knowle in the West Midlands and the Friends managed to arrange a telephone bid just as the sale was starting and secured the salver for its return to Nostell.

A spokesman for the Friends of Nostell Priory said: “The vendor was a lady in the South-West who said that the salver came from her husband’s family, but she could not shed any further light on its adventures.”

The George III silver salver is of shaped circular form with moulded pie-crust border. It is thought to have been created to commemorate the marriage of Roland Winn to Sabine Louise, only daughter and heir of Jacques Philippe, Baron d’Hervert of Switzerland.

Roland Winn succeeded his father on August 23, 1765, to become the 5th Baronet. The salver will be presented to the National Trust on March 27, next year.