Antique silver brought back home

The 350-piece collection is back in its rightful place

A silver urn that was bought at auction in the United States is to go on display at the Greater Manchester mansion it was commissioned for.

The urn is part of a collection of early 18th Century silverware to go on show at Dunham Massey, near Altrincham.

The Warrington Silver collection was given away from the estate in the mid-19th Century when the house was abandoned by the 7th Earl of Stamford.

The National Trust has spent decades trying to return it to its home.

The collection was brought together by the 2nd Earl of Warrington during his tenure of the estate between 1694 and 1758.

Circus performer

It comprised about 1,000 pieces and was commissioned from French protestant refugees, the Huguenots.

But it was removed from the house after the 7th Earl of Stamford left, reputedly in protest at social snubs to his second wife, Catherine Cocks, who was a circus performer.

The collection was then taken to the Earl's house at Enville, Staffordshire, until it was dispersed in 1905.

It was the 10th Earl of Stamford who resolved to find the silverware and return it to Dunham Massey when he bequeathed the estate in 1976.

About 350 pieces have been brought back to Dunham Massey to date.

Apart from the recently acquired silver urn, the collection includes four large wall lights with mythological scenes engraved on the back, and some 17th Century tankards bought in 1921.