Silver for peace
Published: 24 November, 2009, 10:50
Image from lyonandturnbull.com
Scotland's oldest auctioneering firm, Lyon & Turnbull, has offered a remarkable silver dinner set for sale. It is expected to fetch over a quarter of a million dollars next Tuesday.
The finely-decorated silver bowl and twelve punch cups accompanying it was a joint gift from Russia and Britain to the American Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis, who managed to avoid a serious conflict between Russia and Britain back in 1904.
The fighting broke out when Russian ships, heading to the Far East to take part in the Russian-Japanese war, had mistakenly taken British fishing boats for Japanese war vessels and opened fire on them, killing three fishermen in the North Sea.
Despite a major diplomatic scandal, the US Navy Admiral Davis succeeded in brokering a deal between Russia and Britain, who were literally on the verge of war.
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