Duncan Harley

In the August of 2014 Edinburgh Auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull offered for sale a small decorative wooden box believed to be the work of Alexander J. Brook of Edinburgh silversmiths Brook & Sons. Brook was known for his meticulously researched reproductions of antiquarian items and the small (W 112mm x D 51mm x H 89mm) highly decorated, silver plated wooden casket would have presented few challenges for him. Brook’s 19th century replica was of an item known as the Monymusk Reliquary. The unsigned piece had been valued at between £5000-10,000 however, perhaps due to interest in all things Scottish generated during the run up to the Scottish Referendum and the approaching 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, the tiny silver panelled yew wood container fetched a staggering £20,000 on sale-day. A strange prequel to the sale had of course been played out some 79 years before, in 1933, when the original Monymusk Reliquary had been advertised for sale by auction in a Lo...