Posts Tagged ‘18th century silversmiths’

Antique Glass Overview

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Antique Glass Overview

‘Glass is one of the most Noble things which man hath at this day, for
his use upon the earth,’ declared Antonio Neri, the author of the first
modern textbook of glass-making published in Florence in 1612. ‘It is
more delightful, polite and sightly, than any other material at this day
known to the world.’
His opinion has been shared in civilised communities for at least
3,500 years. For instance, the glass-makers of Rome were given a special
street in the better part of the city where they could practise their art.
In the Byzantine period, in 438 A.D., the Theodosian Code exempted
glass-makers from taxation. Glass-makers ranked with the nobility in
Venice and l’Altare in Italy during the Renaissance period, and the only
trade a French aristocrat might engage in without loss of rank was glass-
making. The ‘Charte des Verriers’ granted to the Lorraine glass-makers
in 1448 gave them the right to describe themselves as ‘gentlemen glass-
makers’, and to rank equally with noblemen, with exemption from certain
taxes from which persons of rank were free. In Britain the highest in the
land could be involved with glass-making with no loss of prestige.
It is only in the last 150 years, with the advent of mechanised mass
production, that glass has largely become taken for granted as a common
material for our everyday use.
Glass, chemically speaking, is a super-cooled liquid which is formed
from a fusion of silica (usually sand, flint or quartz) with an alkaline
flux (usually potash or soda), with the addition of lime to make the glass
or ‘metal’ more durable.
These ingredients are put into crucibles (pots made of fireclay) which
are placed in a furnace where they are heated to such a temperature that
the ingredients fuse and become an orange-red molten liquid.
The glass-maker can gather some of the hot glass on the end of an
iron tube, known as a blowing-iron, by repeatedly dipping it in the
crucible and twisting it. The resulting ‘gather’ can then be blown, by
breathing through the iron tube, and ‘marvcred’, by smoothing the
gather on a flat stone or metal surface; it can be moulded, by blowing
the bubble or ‘paraison’ into a wooden or metal mould, or elongated, by
swinging the bubble on the end of the blowing-iron, or manipulated into
A 15th-century drawing of a glass-house, probably in Bohemia. In the top half of the
picture the raw materials for glass-making are being mixed and carried down to the glass
furnace. Crucibles containing the melt of raw materials arc seen inside the main furnace.
A glass-blower is ‘marvering’ (smoothing) the bubble of hot glass at the end of his
blowing-iron on a flat slab. The glass-blower to his right is reaching for another gather
of glass from the crucibles in the furnace. Glass vessels they have just made are being
placed inside the annealing oven (attached to the main furnace) to cool slowly. A man
behind the annealing oven is examining a finished vessel. (Photo: Add. Ms. 24189,
courtesy of the Trusted of the British Museum.)
Introduction
shape by the use of metal tongs, pincers, shears or other simple tools.
Repeated reheating at the furnace is necessary to maintain the plasticity
of the glass or ‘metal’ during these operations.
The leading glass-maker in a team producing the vessels sits on a
‘chair’ with long, flat, parallel arms on which he rotates his blowing-iron
(also called pontil rod or puntee—a solid iron rod to which a partly
formed vessel can be transferred) while he manipulates the glass.
Once a vessel has been formed and detached from the pontil rod it is
put into a separate furnace, where it is ‘annealed’, or slowly cooled to
relieve the tensions in the glass. Glass that has not been annealed but
allowed to cool naturally will shatter very easily.
Glass can be coloured by the addition of metallic oxides, or decolourised
by adding antimony or manganese to the mix.
When the vessel has been annealed it can be further decorated by
removing part of its surface through the various ‘taking away’ or abrasive
techniques: or by the ‘adding’ techniques of giving decoration such as
trails or blobs, enamelling or gilding. In modern times techniques of
forming and decorating glass have multiplied and form a whole subject
in themselves.
When visiting a glass collection or when buying glass, one is first of all
struck by the physical appearance of the glass—whether it is clear,
coloured, blown, moulded, enamelled, gilded, cut, engraved, and so
forth. This book is written with that fact in mind. It attempts to cover
the history of every technique of vessel glass-making in all the main
glass-making countries throughout the ages.
One further point: following modern practice, the measurements are
quoted in both metric and imperial terms, but are sometimes rounded
up a little for the sake of convenience. Occasionally the dimensions were
not available.

Antique Decorative Silver Tableware. Silver Baskets and Centrepieces

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Decorative tableware
In the 18th and 19th centuries the utilitarian plate on dining-tales was complemented by richly
decorative pieces such as bread-, fruit- and cake-baskets, epergnes, and centrepieces. Made as much to display wealth as to be practical, these are characterized by high-quality casting, chasing, and, especially on baskets and epergnes, piercing. Such objects are among the most popular with collectors today because they are particularly attractive as
display pieces on a table.
SILVER EPERGNES
First used at the French court in the 1690s and in England c.1715, the epergne was an elaborate centrepiece for the dinner-table or sideboard. The name “epergne” is probably derived from the French word epargner, meaning “to save”: space could be saved on the table by
bringing together several dishes on one stand. By the 1740s the epergne was associated with the dessert course and generally took the form of a central
pierced basket surrounded by four to six pierced dishes or baskets for holding fruit or sweetmeats. It was most popular during the mid-18th century, when the light and delicate pierced forms, often ornamented with cast shells and flowers, were particularly suited to the Rococo style. Some epergnes, particularly those by the leading English maker Thomas Pitts (c.1723-93), demonstrate the contemporary vogue for chinoiserie, with their pagoda-like canopies with suspended bells.
In the 1760s and 1770s epergnes became wider and headier with the addition of more baskets, and in the 1-80s the influence of the Neo-classical style was
evident, with simpler oval or circular baskets, sometimes with blue glass liners, and decorated with Vitruvian scroll borders and swags. The leading specialist maker of epergnes in late 18th-century England was Thomas Pitts’s son William Pitts (active 1781-1806). Like other silversmiths, he offered clients a choice between more expensive epergnes, which had cast branches and decoration, and less expensive examples with mechanically produced ornament.
Heavier and more solid than 18th-century examples, Regency epergnes are usually mounted on a heavy Square or round foot, with branches ending in large floral sockets supporting cut-glass bowls rather than pierced silver baskets. Very few epergnes were made after this period, as they were generally replaced by the ornamental centrepiece.
SILVER CENTREPIECES
Large centrepieces as a decorative focal point for the dining-table or sideboard have always been among the most expensive items of plate and were often displayed as a sign of the wealth and status of the owner. One of the most famous and inventive pieces is the English silver-gilt Poseidon or Neptune centrepiece of 1741, made for Frederick, Prince of Wales. It features an elaborate stand of sculptural cast dolphins and mermen and is decorated with shells and marine creatures. Although this piece bears the maker’s mark of Paul Crespin (1694-1770), it may in fact have been designed and made by Nicholas Sprimont (1716-71 ); both were
leading English Huguenot makers of Rococo silver. The centrepiece was made with many matching salt-cellars and sauceboats, as befitting a grand table service for a royal patron.
Regency and Victorian centrepieces from the
19th century appear more frequently frequently at auctions today (although North American pieces are rare). Made with or without branches for candles, they usually have a central bowl, either solid silver or pierced with a glass liner, for fruit or sweetmeats. Centrepieces with all their original glass liners are rare today. Female caryatid figures supporting a bowl on a stand with heavy scroll or paw feet are characteristic of the Regency period, whereas later 19th-century centrepieces were made in
a huge variety of designs – naturalistic, sculptural figures were particularly popular. Many Victorian centrepieces were supplied with a flat, mirrored stand known as a “plateau” to enhance the decorative effect, but very often these became separated from the centrepiece and were sold on their own.
In the 19th century there was also a great demand for presentation plate, and the most important firms, such as Hunt & Roskell (est. 1844), Garrards (est. 1802), and Elkington & Co. (est. c.1830) in England, and Odiot in France, employed sculptors to design magnificent silver or electroplate centrepieces for historic or sporting occasions. Such pieces were shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. Centrepieces were also made in Germany and Austria, notably by the firm of Klinkosch, but these are not always of such good quality as English and French pieces because the metal is often thinner. By the second half of the 19th century centrepieces had been scaled down in size and elaborateness, with a single basket on a stand becoming the usual form. This developed into the dessert stand, which had replaced the centrepiece by the end of the century.
Regency and early Victorian baskets were produced in a wide variety of styles, but in many cases they can be distinguished from 18th-century examples by an unpierced body that is embossed and chased with heavy scrolls, flowers, and foliage, or radiating lobes. Silversmiths in the 19th century also reproduced the shell-shaped designs and elaborate patterns that were typical of the Rococo period.
Victorian baskets are generally less expensive and more readily available to collectors today than examples from the 18th and 19th centuries. The handles on these baskets are sometimes bent or damaged (or have been removed altogether), as the weight of the unpierced body puts strain on them. Any basket that does not have a handle should be carefully examined to see if the handle has been removed. As on earlier examples, the feet may also have been pushed up into the body of the basket if it has at some stage been overloaded.
SILVER BASKETS
Silver baskets designed for holding bread, fruit, cake, or sweetmeats are known from the early 17th century, but most of those surviving today date from (.1730 onward. They are oval or circular with pierced sides,
a flat base on a raised foot or four cast feet, and a fixed or swinging bail handle. In many cases, the flat base was engraved with a coat of arms. In the late 1730s and 1740s the leading English silversmiths Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751), Paul Crespin (1694-1770), and
James Schruder (active 1737–(.1752) produced intricate Rococo baskets with delicate pierced designs of scrolls, circles, crescents, and quatrefoils, elaborate engraving and chasing, and asymmetrical handles with cast and applied masks, animals, figures, and birds.
Another feature typical of the Rococo fashion for novelty was the imitation of inexpensive materials in silver; on baskets dating from the first half of the 18th century the sides are often pierced and chased to give the impression of wickerwork strips. Some extremely rare and expensive baskets by the best makers were made in the form of sculptural scallop shells with scroll handles.
By the late 18th century silversmiths used hand-piercing only for the finest baskets, as the majority of pierced parts were mass-produced quickly and
accurately using the newly developed fly-punch. The silver sheet was also much thinner than on earlier pieces, so baskets of this date should always be carefully checked to make sure that the piercing is intact. Simple wirework baskets embellished with chased and applied motifs such as flowers, vine leaves, and sheaves of wheat (for bread-baskets) were also popular in the late 18th century.
Epergnes
• COLLECTING individual baskets may be sold separately; check branches and feet for cracks or repairs
Marks
All detachable parts should be marked; crests or coats of arms on each piece should match
Centrepieces
• COLLECTING mirrored plateaux are now often sold on their own; inscriptions do not add value unless of particular historical interest
Marks
All detachable parts should be marked
Baskets
• DESIGNS solid forms with chased scrolls, flowers, and shells were typical in the early 19th century
• CONDITION piercing is particularly vulnerable to damage and should be checked carefully; ensure that the handle is not bent or damaged due to wear or overloading the basket; feet are prone to pushing LIP through the body on light, sheet-metal baskets
• COLLECTING early 18th-century baskets in heavy-gauge metal are more valuable than later, lighter ones
Marks
Both the handle and body should feature the same mark; marks arc sometimes pierced out.

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Friday, May 1st, 2009