A George III Silver Large Salver, by Paul Storr, London, 1802, oval and with gadrooned border, on four gadrooned panel feet, engraved with a coat-of-arms, 51cm wide, 76oz 18dwt

The coat-of-arms are those Montgomery, almost certainly for James Montgomery (1766-1839). James was the son of Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope and his wife Margaret Scott. He spent his early life at Stobo Castle in the Scottish borders and was educated in Edinburgh, passing the bar in 1787. He was to become a very wealthy man in 1810 when he inherited £20,000 from his childless family friend William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensbury.

Over the course of his life he served as Deputy Governor of the British Linen Company Bank; Member of Parliament for Peeblesshire and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was to marry twice, first to Lady Elizabeth Douglas and, following her death in 1814, to Helen Graham (d.1828). It was through his second wife that he was to inherit Kinross House. The house remained empty until 1902 when his ancestors made the decision to sell Stobo Castle and move to Kinross.

It is probable that the present salver was among the chattels moved from Stobo to Kinross but it is certain that a similarly plain soup-tureen and cover by Paul Storr, 1798 and another matching soup-tureen and cover by Richard Cook, 1805 did. Each is engraved with matching arms to the present salver and both descended at Kinross until 2011 when sold Christie's, South Kensington, 30 March 2011, lots 44 and 45 respectively.