plain tapering cylindrical form with faceted spout, the domed cover with banded orb finial, wooden scroll handle, engraved with a crest, stamped twice with maker's mark BB and twice STERLING to underside 

The D'Anyers Willis Will Trust Christie's, London, 21 September 2004, lot 277

clearly marked to underside, stamped twice with makers mark only to cover rim. The handle is a later replacement. Old repair to finial junction; signs of firing. Otherwise bright with light surface pitting. visible seam to interior. Good overall condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The crest is that of Willis of Halsnead Park and Hall-of-the-Hill, Lancashire, for Thomas Willis, a Liverpool merchant, who in 1684 purchased the estate of Halsnead. He died unmarried in 1727.

he complicated history of the Willis family's ownership of Halsnead is explained in William Farrer and J. Brownbill, editors, Victoria County History, A History of the County of Lancaster (1907, vol. 3, pp. 348-352): 'In 1684 Thomas Willis, a merchant of Liverpool, purchased Halsnead and settled there. He had a son Martin, whose children Thomas and Daniell dying without issue, Halsnead went to their cousin Thomas, grandson of William Swettenham of Swettenham, by his wife Bertha, daughter of Thomas Willis. The heir took the name of Willis, but his son Thomas dying without issue in 1788, another cousin of Daniell Willis, by his mother's side, succeeded. This was Ralph Earle, who took the name of Willis. He died two years later, when his son and heir Richard came into possession and held it till his death inꦐ 1837. He was succeeded by his sons Richard, Joseph, and Daniell in turn; the last of these died in 1873, and his son Henry Rodolph D'Anyers Willis, in 1902; the latter's son Richard Atherton D'Anyers Willis, born in 1871, is the present lord of the manors of Whiston and Halsnead.'

Benjamin Brancker, who is known to have been working in Liverpool from the early years of the 18υth Century, was succeeded in business by his son John in 1734. For further information, including details of his petition in 1715 to the Corporation of Chester to become a freeman of that city, see Maurice H. Ridgway, Chester Goldsmiths from Early Times to 1726, John Sherratt & Son Ltd., Altringham, 1968, pp. 123-124; and Ian Pickford, editor, Jackson's Silver and Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland, third edition, Antique Col🦂lectors' Club, Woobridge, pp. 413-415.

Other examples of work bearing Brancker's mark include a brandy saucepan, circa 1720 from the collection of Mrs. Elizabeth and the late Dr. Edward F. Rosenberg, Christie's, New York, 10 December 1986, lot 111; and a teapot, circa 1720, illustrated in Michael Clayton, Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver, p. 124, no. 2.

Another coffee pot of very similar form to the present example, with a similarly distinctive spout, is 💞🦹in the Liverpool Museum.