Locating sold antiques associated with family.

[Katharine75]

Hi all. I know this is a long shot. Just wondering if anyone out there in UK has a good knowledge of antique trade and can advise me on the possibility of tracking down family items that are presume to have been sold.
In 1877 an article described a set of (inscribed) pewter dinner plates that were owned by the family for a long time and still in their possession at that date. I am assuming that at some stage since then they plates might have been sold in the UK (on the assumption a branch of the family does not still hold them, but I don't think there were children to pass them on to).
Would there be any way of tracking them down? Auction catalogues or some such?
Thanks, Katharine.

[avm228]

Maybe start with the basics - who was the last family member known to own them, and can you track down a will if they left one? If you are lucky they may have made a specific bequest of the plates.

If they went to auction you’d have to have quite some luck on your side to trace them 150-odd years later. I did manage to trace certain items sold from my own family at Sotheby’s New York in 1895, but only because the sale was significant enough that the New York Times ran a piece on it (and the key items were bought by a museum, which still has them).