When Louis Dee died of ‘English cholera’ at his house in Hammersmith Grove at the relatively early age of 53 in August 1884, the London goldsmiths’ trade lost one of its most active members. Although generally described as a manufacturing silversmith and jeweller, his firm was also known as wholesalers of all kinds of luxury goods, including clocks and watches. It had been established in the late 1820s by his father, Thomas William Dee (c.1792-1869) and run in partnership for many years with his brother, Henry William Dee (c.1823-1896). For anyone familiar with Dee’s surviving silver and silver-mounted pieces, the excellent quality of their designs and workmanship will come as no surprise. The enamelled silver-gilt mounted sword the firm completed for the retail goldsmiths, Widdowson & Veale in 1860 for presentation to Sir James Outram by the Common Council of London is a splendid example. It is currently on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum. On a less ambitious scale Dee’s have long attracted the attention of collectors of unusual silver novelties of the type they regularly made for Garrard’s, Leuchars & Son and Asprey’s and other retail goldsmiths. The patterns for many were registered as copyright and the designs, which survive in the UK National Archives, make a fascinating study. Among them is a drawing for the ‘GIN’ silver bottle ticket illustrated here. On 19 May 1885 Foster’s of Pall Mall auctioned Dee’s remaining stock, recalling that Louis Dee’s ‘reputation as a manufacturing silversmith was second to none.’