Provenance

Ludwig Heinrich Beil (1794-1852) was a German musician who worked as a teacher and church organist in Cape Town from the 1820s to 1840s.  He was also well-known as a botanist.

This Cape silver salver was presented to him on 11 July 1830 by the Church Council of the Groote Kerk at the consecration of their new organ, as a token of their gratitude.  This event, which was attended by the Governor and his family, included one of the first performances of choral music in a Cape church, by the Liefhebbery Zangkoor and the Hollandsche Liefhebbery Musiek Gezelschap, both under the direction of Beil.

In his authoritative book Cape Silver and Silversmiths, Cape Town, 1966, Stephan Welz notes that "few Cape salvers and trays have any engraved decoration".  The exceptional quality of the engraving on the present example could be attributed to the fact that, apart from being a silversmith, Peter Clarke Daniel worked as a goldsmith and jeweller.