Posts Tagged ‘silver’

James Giles decorated teapot, c.1760

Sunday, February 13th, 2022

This small white porcelain teapot has traveled the world since it was first produced in China in the mid-1700s. Soon after it was made, it travelled by cargo ship to London where it was decorated with flowers in polychrome enamels at the James Giles Workshop, circa 1755-1765. I purchased the teapot a few years ago from an antiques dealer in Virginia and now it resides in New York. It measures nearly 5.5 inches high, 7.5 inches from handle to spout.

You all must know by now that the reason I purchased this lovely teapot is because of the make-do repair. After the original spout broke off, over 200 years ago, a jeweler attached an elegant silver replacement. Repairs such as this are not uncommon, and I image jewelers kept a stock of silver spouts ready for action for when the inevitable happened.

This teapot with similar form and decoration by James Giles suggests what the original spout on my teapot would have looked like.

Photo courtesy of eBay

Bone fork with silver repair, c.1880

Sunday, July 18th, 2021

This bone salad serving set, which measures 10.5 inches long, appears to have been made in France, c.1880. Long ago, one of the fork prongs broke off and was repaired by a silversmith, who added a wide band to help secure the break. As many antique bone salad servers were made with silver handles or embellishments, this silver repair seems appropriate.

Here’s a more upscale set of French salad servers with original ornate silver handles.

Photo courtesy of Catawiki

A toast to the New Year, 2021!

Sunday, January 3rd, 2021

I imagine this is how many of my drinking glasses ended up with early repairs. Let’s raise a glass and welcome the New Year, and hope it’s better than the last one.

All the best to you in 2021 and please drink responsibly!

Cut ruby glass cordial with silver stem, c.1920

Sunday, December 13th, 2020

I believe this cut ruby glass cordial wine glass was made in Germany or Bohemia in the 1920s. It was most likely part of a larger set consisting of 6 or more glasses – possibly each a different color – along with a matching decanter.

As most antique glass stemware is fragile, many were broken and ultimately tossed out. Luckily, this one was spared the trash bin and brought back to life with the addition of a silver sleeve. Thank you to the unknown tinker or silversmith who conjoined the broken pieces with their skill and ingenuity, allowing this glass to function again.

This sturdy set with a similar cut pattern appears to be without damage.

Photo courtesy of Ruby Lane

Batavian teapot with silver coin terminals, c.1730

Sunday, September 27th, 2020

This Batavian brown glazed globular form teapot with cobalt blue decoration was made in China during the middle of the Qianlong dynasty (1736-1795). Batavia ware, aka Capuchin ware or Cafe au lait, was highly favored by the Dutch and named for the city of Batavia (today Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia), the center of Dutch trade in the 18th century.

Teapot stands 5.25 inches high, 7.5 inches from handle to spout and has double repairs: a metal replacement handle wrapped in woven rattan and a silver replacement spout with engraved decoration. As if that wasn’t enough, two silver coins from the reign of King Charles (Carlos) of Spain (1661-1700) were used as handle terminals. Judging from the precious materials used on both repairs, it’s safe to assume that the original owner was well off.

This teapot, with similar form and decoration, shows what the original handle and spout on mine might have looked like.

Photo courtesy of BidLive

Chinese teapot with applied flowers and triple repairs, c.1730

Sunday, August 2nd, 2020

This baluster form porcelain teapot with applied flowers was made in China during the tail end of the Yongzheng period (1678-1735.) It measures 5 inches high, 6.75 inches from handle to spout and is decorated in the Famille Rose palette of green, orange, blue, lavender, and gilt.

Various craftspeople were kept busy making repairs on this poor injured fighter. We will never know exactly who did the repairs or when they were done but it seems likely that a metal smith made the silver replacement spout sometime in the 1700s-1800s. The rattan wrapped bronze replacement handle was most likely done in the 1800s and the wooden replacement knob could have been done as late as the early 1900s.

The last photo shows a similar teapot with all of its original parts intact, but I much prefer my mismatched sampler of various early repairs.

This teapot with similar form and decoration suggests what the original spout, handle, and knob on mine might have looked like before it took a tumble.

Photo courtesy of Northeast Auctions

Pair of Chinese jugs with silver spouts, c.1720

Saturday, May 23rd, 2020

As I have noted many times in these pages, I love finding multiples of matching inventive repairs.

This colorful pair of Chinese porcelain footed jugs, made during the later part of the Kangxi period (1661–1722), has floral decorations with gilt highlights. They are baluster-form with unusual flattened sides, stand 8 inches high, and were most likely part of a large set of tableware for a wealthy household.

At some point in the jugs early lives, both of the spouts broke off, rendering them unusable. Luckily, a clever and talented silversmith was able to fashion new spouts with lovely engraved decoration, and attach them to the jugs. I can only assume that as soon as the jugs were brought home, they were put back on the dining room table and used again for many generations.

Samuel Hollins coffee pot with silver lid, c.1790

Sunday, May 17th, 2020

I was thrilled to find this elegant baluster form, dry-bodied redware pottery coffee pot recently. It was made by Samuel Hollins in Staffordshire, England, circa 1784-1813, and stands 9 inches high. The applied sprigged decoration of a woman playing the harp is featured on one side, and The Birth of Achilles is on the reverse. Thin silver resist bands decorate the middle, rim, and spout.

The owners of this coffee pot must have been well off, as instead of carving a new lid out of wood or taking it to an itinerant tinsmith for a tin replacement after the original lid broke, they brought it to an established London silversmith for repair. The heavy sterling silver replacement lid is clearly stamped with the maker’s initials HWC, for Henry William Curry, and a date mark for 1867. I think the shiny new lid, beautifully offset by the rich red color of the stoneware, looks better than the original. But then of course, I’m biased.

Check out a previous post, Samuel Hollins stoneware coffee pot, c.1800 showing another Hollins coffeepot with similar form and decoration, but with a more humble repair.

This is what the original domed lid on my coffee pot would have looked like, had it not been broken and replaced.

Photo courtesy of WorthPoint

Basalt teapot with Sibyl knob, c.1785

Sunday, February 9th, 2020

This classical black basalt pottery teapot with engine-turned ribbed body was made in England, c.1785-95. It stands 4.5 inches high, 8 inches wide from handle to spout. An impressed mark “NEALE & CO” can be found on the underside. My favorite design feature is the Sibyl knop on the lid, an intricately detailed sculptural feat unto itself.

After the original spout broke off – most likely over 175 years ago – a silversmith applied a silver replacement. I tend to keep replacement metals unpolished, as I feel the oxidization adds another layer of beauty to the piece. In this case, the dark richness of the silver spout blends in nicely with the teapots black surface.

This intact teapot with similar form suggests what the original spout on my teapot might have looked like.

Photo courtesy of 1stdibs

“Boy on a Buffalo” teapot, c. 1755

Sunday, July 14th, 2019

This porcelain Dr. Wall (or First Period) Worcester compressed globular form teapot was made in England, circa 1755-56. One side has pencilled (painted with fine brush) decoration in black of the “Boy on a Buffalo,” the reverse has a different scene, and the spout is decorated with a sprig of flowers. Teapot measures 4.5 inches high to top of lid, 6.5 inches wide from handle to spout.

After the lid went missing and the spout broke, it was taken to a silversmith, who fashioned an elegant hinged lid and a well made collar to extend the truncated spout. Although it would have been an added bonus if the teapot possessed hallmarks of the silversmith who did the fine repairs, I am thrilled to own this rare teapot, nonetheless, and share it with you.

This example shows what the original cover and spout looked like before the teapot took a tumble.

Photo courtesy of Invaluable