We are privileged to have a very fine collection of silver at the Inn. Much of it is on display in the cabinets beyond Hall and many beautiful pieces are brought out for important dinners and events throughout the year. The collection, along with the Inn’s magnificent paintings, furniture and armour, is looked after by Barnaby Bryan, the Inn’s Archivist and Head of Collections, most ably assisted by Assistant Archivist Victoria Hildreth and Conservator Siobhán Prendergast.
Despite the Inn tracing its roots back to the 14th Century, the Inn’s current silver collection dates back only to 1664. The Inn had an extensive collection of plates before then – it was traditionally used as an investment and cash reserve – but most of it was sold off following an order of the Inn’s Parliament in 1649 to settle debts accrued from the combination of an extensive building programme and a much-reduced income during the Civil War. From 1585, members wishing to become ‘Associate Benchers’ were required to provide either £10 or some suitable silver for Hall (for context, the Inn’s servants were paid a salary of between £2 and £11 per year). Thus, the collection was re-started through donations and bequests from Benchers and members, together with purchases and the commission of pieces by the Inn over the years which has led to the magnificent collection of which we are custodians today.
There have been gifts to the Inn from Royal Benchers also: after his year as Treasurer, Albert, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, gave his £100 stipend to the Under Treasurer, who bought a Loving Cup made in 1800 by the legendary silversmith Peter Storr, which was still in use at dinners until relatively recently. Most notable of our benefactors was the newspaper proprietor Harold Harmsworth, the 1st Viscount Rothermere, who the Inn had had the good sense to make an Honorary Bencher in 1928. Rothermere, whose father was a member of the Inn (and whose small portrait hangs outside the Treasurer’s office), was a serious collector of silver. He lamented the fact that the Inn had such a depleted collection of plate and so, between 1931 and 1940, he gifted 23 extraordinarily fine pieces to the Inn. The Rothermere Gift remains the centrepiece of the Inn’s collection, but we have also benefited from the generosity of members and Benchers from Lord Diplock to, most recently, the descendants of a senior clerk at the Inn, Edward Wildey, who had been presented by members of chambers with a large silver salver on his retirement.
The Inn is also custodian of some of the antique silver from the Temple Church, including flagons, a paten, and a communion cup from the 17th Century. In more recent times the collection has been added to with pieces commissioned by the Inn from leading silversmiths of the 20th Century, such as Gilbert Marks, Omar Ramsden, Gerald Benney and Christopher Lawrence. More recently still, the Inn commissioned a Magna Carta cup by John Doubleday to mark 800 years since Magna Carta was signed, and a silver tazza (raised fruit dish) by Smith and Harris, based on a 17th Century tazza in the Inn’s collection, to celebrate the centenary of women being admitted to Middle Temple, including the first, Helena Normanton. Normanton herself donated to the Inn a silver ink stand (made in 1721 by a Huguenot silversmith) for use by students when signing the admissions book on being Called to the Bar by the Inn.
In addition to what one might expect for use or display at grand dinners – candlesticks, cutlery, gravy boats, ewers and basins, rosewater dishes – the Inn has an eclectic array of pieces. From the Head Porter’s ceremonial staff and breast plate and the Paniermen’s horn (for calling students to dinner) to porringers (for porridge or soup) and argylls (to keep gravy warm); from ashtrays to snuff boxes (including one donated by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when she was Treasurer in 1949). We display many of the finest pieces in the purpose-built display cabinets in the corridor between Hall and the Bench apartments, with the rest of the collection kept safely in the vault, but we try to vary the display from time to time. For important dinners we aim to put out pieces that are appropriate for the occasion or the guests of that evening – for example the Magna Carta Cup came out regularly in 2025 to mark the octocentenary of the 1225 edition of Magna Carta; and the Waterford Crystal vase beautifully engraved with the Inn’s Lamb and Flag emblem, presented to the Inn by the Benchers of Inn of Court of Northern Ireland in 1991, was on display at a recent dinner for the Irish and Northern Irish Bars. We await an Australian amity visit so that we can get out the silver Kangaroo donated to the Inn in 1976 by Sir Victor Windeyer, a distinguished Australian soldier, High Court Judge and member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
As with any collection, much work goes into conserving it and we have a programme of repairs and specialist cleaning. Keeping a comprehensive record is important and we are updating the catalogue, begun by previous Masters of the Silver (particularly Bruce Williamson in 1930 and Robin Stewart in 1998) which has been significantly added to by Victoria Hildreth in recent years and which is in need of better images of individual items. We also commission monographs of the finest pieces so that we have a more detailed understanding of their provenance and significance. 2026 will see the commission of a monograph on the small but very rare collection of silver from the Commonwealth period, including a particularly fine wine cup engraved with five tulips made in 1655.
The collection should not however simply be a display of museum-quality pieces, whilst unused (and in some cases, unwanted) items are stored away in a dark vault. It should evolve over time and, when finances allow, we should add modern pieces so that students and members using the Inn in the 21st Century can enjoy and admire the work of skilled contemporary silversmiths. To that end, I have set up a working group to propose to Parliament commissioning pieces to mark significant events or to replace redundant plate with new pieces; and, by establishing a close link with the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, we have been fortunate to receive conservational and curatorial advice – and are being introduced to promising young silversmiths to discuss commissions for future generations to enjoy.
The Inn has been fortunate to receive gifts and bequests of silver not only over previous centuries but also in recent years. May I encourage any member or Bencher who might wish to give or leave something to the Inn to get in touch? In addition, Masters of the Bench might wish to commission a silver-gilt water beaker with their name and year of donation (and their Office if appropriate), for use at formal dinners, thus continuing a tradition of donating silver to the Inn that goes back to 1585.
The dedicated work of the Inn’s expert archivists continues year in, year out. Whatever your connection to the Inn, we trust that you will enjoy the various displays of the Inn’s silver – it is an important collection that has been assiduously collected, curated and cared for over many generations for the benefit of current and future members as well as the Inn’s many visitors.
Edmund Vickers KC was Called to the Bar in 1993 and became a Bencher in 2022. Ed succeeded John Leslie as Master of the Silver in 2025. He has for many years been an advocacy trainer for the Inn and is a member of the Scholarship Finance Review Panel. Ed took silk in 2017 and is a member of Red Lion Chambers, specialising in criminal law. He is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
