Posts Tagged ‘candelabrum’

Dishes
Pair of George III oval meat dishes by Frederick Kandler, London, 1765, 73 oz 2 dwt Pair of Victorian octagonal entree dishes and covers with
vegetable dividers for each and ball finials, Sheffield, 1880,
120 oz 14 dwt 450 0
George III circular vegetable dish with ivory grips, pierced sides and four scroll and foliate feet, by W.S., London, 1809, 80 oz 2 dwt 360 0
William IV shaped oblong entree dish and cover with engraved armorials and foliate ring handle, by J. C. Eddington, London, 1835, 61 oz 5 dwt 260 0
George III muffin dish and cover, the domed cover with urn
shaped finial, by Henry Chawner, London, 1791, 15 oz 1 dwt        210 0
Jugs—Cream and Milk
George III helmet-shaped cream jug with ‘bright-cut’ engraving, loop handle and square pedestal foot, by George Smith, London, 1790, 3 oz 7 dwt 80 0
George II cream jug of conch shell type with serpent handle and
three coral-like supports. Circa 1755, 3 oz 5 dwt 80 0
George III oblong milk jug engraved with crests and with gadroon lip and scroll handle, by R. and S. Hennell, London, 1808, 6 oz 2 dwt 70 0
Victorian baluster milk jug chased with flowers and scrolls and on three feet. Possibly by William Brawn, London, 1845, 5 oz 7 dwt 52 0
Jugs—Water
George III pear-shaped hot-water jug, stand and lamp, the jug with rams’ masks and laurel festoons, the stand on three claw feet with female bust terminals, by Andrew Fogelberg. The jug 1776, the stand 1775, 40 oz

780 0
George III vase-shaped hot-water jug, plain with wood handle and on circular foot, by William Fountain, London, 1801, 25 oz 11 dwt 460 0
George II baluster hot-water jug chased with scrolls, leaves and flowers, raffia-covered handle and rim foot, by Gurney and Cook, London, 1755, 19 oz 15 dwt 270 0
Jugs—Wine and Ale
Queen Anne ale jug, die ground embossed with foliage and flowers and a satyr spout, by John Wisdom, London, 1712, 35 oz 280 0
Victorian wine ewer with baluster body and engraved with Grecian figures and leaves, entwined snake handle and butterfly finial, by E. and J. Barnard, London, 1862, 27 oz 11 dwt        170 0
Marrow Scoops
Queen Anne scoop of typical form by Charles Jackson, 1713,
1 oz 10 dwt 68 0
Early George III scoop, the larger bowl engraved with initials,
probably by William Tuite, London, 1767, 1 oz 12 dwt 20 0
Mustard Pots
George III drum mustard with moulded borders, flat hinged lid and simple scroll handle, with spoon of earlier date. Pot by Ernes and Barnard, London, 1813, 5 oz 10 dwt 165 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
William IV mustard with ribbed baluster body and hinged domed lid with floral finial, scroll handle and shell thumbpiece and spoon of same date but different maker. Pot by C.G., London, 1830, 6 oz 17 dwt
George III oblong mustard with domed cover, urn finial and angular handle on four bun feet, London, 1813, 3 oz 11 dwt
Salts
Four George I plain oval trencher salts with incurved sides, by
Mary Rood, 1723, 6 oz 15 dwt Pair of George III boat-shaped salts, reeded at the lips and
pedestal feet, gilt interiors, by Peter and Ann Bateman, 1792,
4 oz 6 dwt
Pair of George II compressed circular salts, with plain engraved bodies below gadroon lips each on three shell-headed hoof supports, possibly by Isaac Cookson, Newcastle, 1747, 8 oz 1 dwt
Salvers
George II large circular salver on four lions’ mask and shell bracket feet, the shaped border pierced and chased, by George Wickes, 1744, 137 oz
George I plain circular salver on central foot with moulded border, by W.P., 1720, 13 oz 12 dwt
George III circular salver, engraved with initials, chased wave border and gadroon rim, on three claw and ball feet, by Robert Rcw or Rugg, 1766, 24 oz 3 dwt
Victorian salver engraved in the centre with an initial and also with scrolls and foliage, moulded border, by J. and J. Angell, London, 1845, 25 oz 14 dwt
Sauceboats
Pair of George II plain sauceboats each on three shell and scroll feet with gadrooned rims and double scroll handles, by Peter Archambo and Peter Meure, 1754, 29 oz
George II two-handled plain double-lipped sauceboat on collet foot, with double scroll handles and waved rim, with a moulded drop beneath the spout, by Peter Archambo, 1732, 17 oz 5 dwt
Pair of George III sauceboats, each on fluted shaped lozenge foot, with gadrooned borders and double scroll handles, by William Sampcl, 1766, 25 oz
Snuff Boxes—See Small Decorative Antiques Sugar Basins—See Baskets—Sugar Tapersticks—See Candlesticks Tankards
William and Mary tankard on three lion couchant feet, scroll handle, cylindrical body and moulded base, by Robert Cooper, 1692, 31 oz
George II baluster tankard with domed cover, openwork thumb-piece and double-scroll handle, on moulded spreading foot, by William Grundy, 1755, 34 oz 5 dwt 650 0
George III baluster tankard, with domed moulded cover and heart-shaped lower terminal to the scrolling handle, by William Caldecott or Gripps, 1765, 27 oz 15 dwt 570 0
Tea Caddies
George III oval caddy, the body with two bands of bright-cut engraving in beaded borders and the plain hinged lid with urn finial, by Hester Bateman, 1781, 14 oz 10 dwt 900 0
George III shaped oval caddy, the body fluted at intervals, decorated with bright-cut engraving, hinged domed cover with wood finial, by Robert Hennell, 1787, 14 oz 17 dwt 480 0
Teapots and Stands
George II bullet teapot with engraved shoulder decoration of satyr masks, leaves and flowers, straight spout, loose lid, ivory handle and finial, by Isaac Liger, 1729, 15 oz 1 dwt 2,100 0
George III teapot stand on four fluted panel supports, by Hester
Bateman, 1789, 4 oz 15 dwt 280 0
George III oval teapot with moulded girdles and a matching stand, supported on four feet, by Crespin Fuller, London, 1800, 16 oz 15 dwt 270 0
George III oval, semi-lobed teapot, with swan-neck spout, ivory handle and finial, by P. A. and W. Bateman, 1799, 17 oz 3 dwt 170 0
George IV teapot, compressed circular body, ivory handle and
finial, curved spout, by Eley and Fearn, 1823, 25 oz 16 dwt        150 0
William IV compressed circular teapot with moulded girdle, wood finial and similar wood handle, by E. E. J. and W. Barnard, 1830, 14 oz 2 dwt 135 0
Early Victorian bullet-shaped teapot with engraved body, Edinburgh, 1840, 24 oz 82 0
George III oval teapot stand, gadroon border on four panel
supports, but George Fenwick, Edinburgh, 1806, 5 oz 14 dwt 80 0
William IV small melon-shaped teapot, with slightly domed cover and ivory finial, scroll handle and curved spout, London, 1833, 13 oz 18 dwt 60 0
Tea and Coffee Services
Victorian tea and coffee service of compressed circular form, decorated with embossed flowers and foliate handles and on scrolled feet with shell motifs, by Rawlins and Sumner, London, 1838, 72 oz 600 0
George IV three-piece melon-shaped tea service with scroll handles and shell decorated panel supports, by E. E. J. and W. Barnard, London, 1829, 44 oz 7 dwt 500 0
George III circular three-piece tea service with curved lobes, gadroon rims and leaf decorated handles, on paw supports, the pot with rose finial, by John Angell, 1819, 41 oz 6 dwt 380 0
Victorian three-piece tea service of compressed circular form,
the plain ground richly chased, by I. J. Keith, London, 1840, 48 oz
Vinaigrettes—See Small Decorative Antiques Waiters
Pair of George III plain oval waiters each on four shell and beaded bracket feet, beaded rims, by John Scofield, London, 1777, 27 oz
George II plain shaped square waiter on four hoof feet, moulded border, by Thomas Farren, London, 1734, 6 oz 17 dwt
Early George II square waiter with raised border incurved at the angles, 1727, 3 oz 18 dwt
SHEFFIELD PLATE Candelabra and Candlesticks
Pair of candelabra, each for three lights, with reeded scrolling arms, gadroon bordered knops, detachable nozzles and circular bases, 17i in high to centres
Pair of three-light candelabra, the tapering vase stems, circular bases and campana-shaped sconces decorated with chased borders, each fitted with two detachable scrolling branches, one converting to form a

five-light and bearing flame finial, 20 in high
Pair of table candlesticks with V-shaped stems, gadroon shoulders, circular bases and detachable nozzles, llj in high
Pair of table candlesticks with circular bases, vase-shaped stems and gadroon borders, detachable nozzles, 11 in high
Coffee Pots
Vase-shaped coffee pot on pedestal foot with reeded borders, ball finial and wood handle, 13 in high
An oval coffee pot on pedestal base, with reeded shoulder, gadroon borders and angular wood handle, 9] in high
Urn-shaped coffee pot, body semi-lobed between ribbed panels, on pedestal base, ball finial and wood handle, 27 in high
Coasters—Wine
Four circular wine coasters with lobed sides below gadroon lips, the wood bases centred by crested bosses, 5J in diameter
Pair of circular coasters with beaded and ovolo rims, wood bases, 6 in diameter
Caddies—Tea
Two caddies of bombd form embossed with shell motifs Serpentined caddy with hinged lid and beaded borders
Dishes
Set of four entree dishes and covers on heater bases, oblong with scrolling foliate borders, 14 in wide over handles
Pair of entree dishes and covers with gadroon borders and
detachable foliate handles, 11 in wide 22 0
A rectangular entree dish and cover complete with liner, gadroon and leaf borders, wood end handles, on four supports, 141 in wide 20 0
Teapots
An oblong teapot, body semi-Iobed between gadrooned borders, short spout, ivory finial and angular wooden handles, 5J in high 25 0
A compressed circular teapot engraved with swirling leafage,
fruit finial and scroll handle, 5J in high 18 0
Tea and Coffee Services
Oval three-piece coffee service with vase-shaped pot, oval jug and basin decorated with bands of sprays and foliage, 10 in high the pot 160 0
Three-piece tea set with compressed circular bodies, fluted,
foliate collars, scroll handles and foliate panel supports 38 0
Tea Trays
Oblong two-handled tray, engraved with armorials within a chased surround of scrolls and floral sprays, gadroon border, 30 in wide 220 0
An oblong tray, gadroon bordered and reeded end handles
springing from chased foliage, 28 in wide 95 0
Tea Urns
An inverted compressed pear-shaped urn, the body engraved
with a crest, foliate handles and flower finial, 16 in high 75 0
An oviform urn with an applied plain shield, the cover with vase finial, reeded loop handles, on square base with ball feet, 221 in high 45 0
Tureens
Large shaped oval sauce tureen on four feet below heavily
chased floral motifs, detachable liner, 16J in wide 230 0
Pair of oval sauce tureens and domed covers with gadrooned rims, decorated with acorns and oak leaves at the handles, 8Ј in wide (end handles missing from one tureen) 120 0
Wine Coolers
Set of four coolers, the campana-shaped bodies engraved with contemporary armorials above lobing reeded handles and gadroon borders, on pedestal bases, 9i in high 520 0
Pair of coolers with campana-shaped bodies, reeded handles and
on pedestal bases, 9J in high 200 0
NON-PRECIOUS METALS
Brass
Pair of eighteenth-century andirons, with spherical finials, and
masks, 29 in high 100 0
SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES ! 1968-69
A club fender
A Corinthian column floor standard
An embossed fire kerb
A two-handled log tub on paw feet
An alms dish with lobed centre and inscription border, the rim
with punched rosettes, 15} in diameter Pair of spirally-turned candlesticks on domed feet, 20J in high A hanging oil lamp Pair of chambersticks, with snuffers A heavy log tub with lion mask handles on paw feet Brass

and steel semi-circular fender
An oval fire insurance plate with a crest of a stag, dated 1774 Pair of carriage lamps A helmet coal-scuttle
A warming-pan with turned wood handle Pair of baluster candlesticks, 9 in high
Bronze
Figure of a racehorse and jockey after Isadore Bonhcur, I0j in
high
The Capture of Alexander by G. Halse. Two warriors hold a
struggling youth. Signed and dated 1860, 24 in high Eighteenth-century Italian figure The Dying Gladiator signed
Canova
Figure of a dancing fawn, holding up a bunch of grapes and
balanced on his left foot, 14 in high Figure of an infant satyr playing a set of pipes, 9j in high Pair of busts of Henry IV and Sully, three-quarter length, both
wearing ruffs and decorations, on rouge marble socles, 20} in
high
Pair of Art Nouveau winged figures stamped A. Moreau, 9J in
high
Pair of five-light candelabra on bulbous stems Italian figure of Venus, 7 in high
Copper
Early nineteenth-century tea urn on a square base
A street lamp
Three large saucepans (one with lid) Two coal scuttles A large kettle
Coal helmet with swing handle
Large two-handled urn and cover
A copper and brass tea urn with tap
A long turned wooden-handled warming-pan
Iron and Steel
Steel and brass basket grate with pierced frieze and baluster
uprights, 20 in wide Seventeenth-century Sussex wrought-iron fireback, 2 ft 10 in
by 1 ft 8 in and a log fork Wrought-iron shaped fire-back Regency iron and brass stick stand on paw feet
Victorian cast-iron corner stick stand 5 10
Victorian cast-iron oil heater 3 10
Pewter
A charger with secondary touch of Thomas Lanyon, circa 1730,
20 in diameter 36 0
Five quart tankards 35 0
A four-branch candelabrum, 24 in high 22 0
Eighteenth-century circular charger, 20 in diameter 22 0 Pair of altar candlesticks, baluster-shaped stems on triangular
bases, 20 in high 16 0
Pair of baluster and cup candlesticks, 18 in high 15 0
A hot-water meat dish with two handles and a grill, 22 in wide 15 0
A travelling chamber-pot, stamped Jas. Dixon 14 0
Two tankards and a mug 6 0

Egypt
In Ancient Egypt jewels were an important part of costume; they were worn by men and children as well as by women, and were often used to adorn statues of gods and goddesses. Images of sacred animals such as cats and crocodiles are often given necklaces, bracelets and earrings made of gold. Earrings, introduced from Asia, seem to have appeared later than other types of jewellery and the earliest important example dates from the end of the second intermediary period (circa 1600 BC). This is a pair consisting of several hoops soldered together which would have hung from large holes pierced in the earlobes. Another early type is a simple hoop of gold, glass paste, faience, jasper or other semiprecious stone worn by pulling the earlobe through the open end, something that was possibly done in infancy.
X-ray photographs of mummies in the Cairo Museum show earlobes extremely elongated and deformed by the use of very heavy ear ornaments in childhood. One mummy in the museum of Turin has two earrings worn on the same earlobe. The mummy of Tutankhamen has large holes pierced in the earlobes, proving that earrings were worn by men as well as women.
During the New Kingdom (1559-1085 BC) large earplugs came into fashion and these also caused deformation of the earlobes. They are designed as faience discs and have a groove round the edge which enabled them to fit into an enlarged hole stretched in the earlobes. Other ear ornaments of contemporary date were in the form of mushroom-shaped studs with the stem pushed through such a hole. In both cases these ornaments were worn in the plane of the ear rather than at right angles to it.
By the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty the decoration of earrings was very varied: cascades of drops, flowers and bell-shaped motifs for pendent earrings and rosettes and flowerhead motifs for the large discs.
The Greek World
Around 800 BC contacts between Greece and the East became closer and two centuries of Oriental influence in Greek art followed. Cyprus and Syria — taken in the broad sense to include Phoenicia and the Neo-Hittite North Syria — were the two countries that mainly influenced Greece, the latter acting as a channel for Egyptian and Mesopotamian influence.
The relative abundance of gold artefacts of this period is undoubtedly related to the opening up of the East to the Greek world through colonization, giving access to rich sources of precious metal in Asia Minor, especially to the Lydian gold mines. The preponderance of the ateliers of Eastern Greece throughout the period is evidence of this. Embossing, filigree and granulation grew in popularity and inlaying with stones, amber and glass made its appearance. Gold earrings of flat crescent design, often decorated with granulation and inlays, and suspended with fine chains are well represented, as well as earrings designed as spirals to be thrust through a hole in the lobe. They were either simple gold wire spirals or had a variety of finials decorated with beading and granulation, worn with the ends pointing upwards. Many variations of this type are known, some with more, some with fewer turns of thin and thick gold wire, others splayed out in the form of a letter W with a higher central point. In the late 7th century the W-shaped spiral was sometimes decorated with elaborate finials in the shape of griffins’ heads, pomegranates or rams heads of Oriental inspiration.
The crescent or boat-shaped earring of Eastern tradition, seen in Ur in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, finally reached Greece via Syria and Cyprus about 700 BC and the type was to flourish there and in the Hellenized centres of the Eastern Mediterranean for some four centuries. Greek examples of the 7th century BC are characterized by a rather fat boat-shaped motif, sometimes decorated with granulation, on a thin gold wire going through the pierced earlobe. The hoop with beaded pendant of Cypriot tradition became popular in the 7th and 6th centuries Bc but remained confined to Eastern Greece.
Greek jewellery of the 6th and early 5th centuries is of artistic brilliance but very little has survived. It is, however, amply documented in vase painting and sculpture. Three of the few regions relatively rich in archaic gold jewellery are Sicily, Rhodes and Cyprus, where crescent earrings of the traditional form continued to be produced.
It was not until after the Persian wars that gold became more plentiful in Greece. By the accidents of history, this Greek Classical jewellery is better known from examples found in Southern Russia, Cyprus and Southern Italy than from Greece proper. The forms were extremely varied and among the abundance of diadems, necklaces, bracelets, pendants and finger-rings, earrings were very popular. They came in three main forms: the boat or crescent, the spiral or helix, and the disc with cone or inverted pyramid pendant.
As in the Archaic period, vase painting and sculpture would seem to suggest that earrings were the most popular form of ornament; statues of female figures were frequently adorned with them, sometimes sculpted in marble and sometimes made of precious metal, as can be inferred from the holes pierced in the ears. It is possible that the ornaments created to adorn statues or donated to temples to be worn by images of goddesses in religious processions were more elaborate, rich and complex than those used in ordinary life, which were buried with the dead and have now been recovered from graves. That they were part of ordinary dress is proved by representation on coins, vase paintings and terracotta figures.
As already mentioned, most of these surviving examples came from areas outside mainland Greece, such as Etruria and Southern Italy.
The boat-shaped earring, which, as we have seen, dates back at least to 13th-century Cyprus, was the most popular form of ear ornament in the Classical period. In its simplest form it consisted of a crescent terminating in a wire for insertion into the earlobe, and remained in fashion, virtually without a break, throughout antiquity. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC it was widespread throughout Southern Russia, Thracia, Macedonia and also Sicily where it was depicted on Syracusae coins of 474-450 Bc adorning the head of Artemis-Arethusa.
P 25 The earliest examples from the Classical period are very simple, consisting of a boat-shaped motif decorated with beading, filigree and granulation. Later, in the second half of the 4th century BC, they tend to be more elaborate in design, often with suspended pendants and chains of various types. Among the most complex examples of the boat-shaped earring is one from Tarentum where the boat is completely encrusted with filigree, granulation, leaf and palmetto motifs and is merely a vehicle
P. 27 for the exuberant decoration of rosettes, nikai, doves, chains and pendants. This decorative repertoire of palmettos, rosettes, flowerheads and spirals can also be found, enlarged, on contemporary vase painting and funerary monuments. The Tarentum example perfectly illustrates the general trend of the period towards increasing elaboration of decoration which is common to the whole Hellenic world. The heavy use of filigree floral motifs and stylized palmettos to enliven the flat surface of the basic boat-shape and the curved surface of the rosette petals are deliberately intended to create a complex chiaroscuro effect with light, shade and reflection and give drama and depth to the object; in later periods this effect was often achieved chromatically by the combination of various different gemstones and by the use of multicoloured enamels.
It is interesting to note that even at this stage the craftsmen of Tarentum were also catering for a less prosperous clientele, making gilt terracotta imitations of the type described above, probably cast in moulds taken from the more expensive gold examples — although it is possible that these cheaper, rather fragile ornaments were made specifically as grave goods.
Another very popular form of earring of the second half of the 5th century BC was that in the form of a disc supporting either one or three pendants, the central one invariably being a female head, an inverted pyramid, an amphora or a cone and the two flanking ones articulated chains with links of various types. By the Hellenistic period disc-and-pendant earrings were to become the most popular and widespread form of ear ornament.
Among the earliest examples is a superb pair from Tarentum, each with a disc decorated at the centre with a filigree rosette within a border of corded wire and beaded work and a female head suspended from a central pendant flanked by two chains of conical beads with bell-shaped terminals. The female head pendants are chased in great detail, with the hairstyle typical of the time as seen on terracottas, vase paintings and coins: parted at the centre, divided in two bandeaux and gathered in a large bun worn low on the nape of the neck. The hair being brushed away from the ears leaves ample space for a large pair of earrings consisting of a pyramidal cluster of beads suspended from a rosette. The great popularitiy of earrings throughout antiquity is certainly linked to the fashion for women to wear the hair gathered at the top or the back of the head, or at least brushed away from the temples.
The head-shaped pendants show an interesting feature: at the base there is a small hole into which it is likely that a piece of sponge or cloth soaked in perfumed oil was inserted. Putting perfumed sponges in necklace pendants was common in antiquity, and Etruscan earrings with perfume compartments have been found. Though not common, such earrings with female head pendants have been recovered in Southern Russia, Cyprus and Etruria.
Another highly significant detail on this example is the presence on the disc and chains of small traces of delicately coloured enamel. The introduction of polychrome enamels in jewellery was an important innovation that dramatically transformed the work of Greek goldsmiths, who had until then achieved effects of movement and contrast through the use of filigree and granulation. It is unfortunate that in this and many other examples the major part of the enamel has now worn away, since polychrome enamels defined the different elements of the decoration, and were therefore essential to the overall effect of the piece.
Rather more widely dispersed were disc earrings with an inverted pyramid pendant often between two chains. This type of pendant, already seen in the Archaic and early Classical periods, became very fashionable towards the end of the 5th century, reaching the height of its popularity in the 4th century BC, and continued to be one of the favourite forms of ear ornament of the Hellenistic period: many examples have been found in Cyprus, Southern Russia, Macedonia and Apulia. The type is also represented on coins from Elis, Locri, Metapontum and Tarentum, on the tetra-drachm of Eukleidas from Syracuse, and on 4th-century BC terracotta antefixes from Tarentum, Metapontum and Heraclea.
The earliest examples are characterized by extremely elaborate gold leaf applications, filigree and granulation on both disc and pyramidal pendant. Later examples are simpler and often completely undecorated apart from a gemstone, usually a garnet, set at the centre of the disc. Gemstones, which made their first appearance in jewellery towards the end of the 4th century BC, became more and more prominent from now until Roman times.
Contemporary with the earring types described above and just as important were
disc earrings with a vase or a cone pendant. They enjoyed a long period of popularity,
P. 26 peaking between the 2nd and i st century BC. Tarentum, Cyprus and Southern Russia
offer the best examples, often set with garnets, coloured glass beads and pearls. This
type is well documented on Syracusae and African coins of the ,3rd and 2nd century
BC.
P. 28, 29 Hellenistic art is cosmopolitan in character, the same forms being found all over the Eastern Mediterranean. Jewellery was no exception-, examples from Apulia are hardly distinguishable from those from Thessaly, Macedonia, Asia Minor, Thrace or Southern Russia.
Particularly popular in the 2nd century BC were disc earrings with bird pendants
made of glass paste. Sirens, peacocks and other winged creatures naturalistically P. 31 modelled in this way were widely popular. The dove was a special favourite because
of its assocation with Aphrodite.
Another variation on the same theme is where the pendant assumes the shape of a miniature Eros. Eros, tutelary god of death and love with his double symbolism, erotic and funerary, is a very common motif in Hellenistic jewellery from the late 4th to the late 2nd century Bc and is represented in various ways. Almost as popular was Nike or Victory, a feminine version of Eros. With time, emphasis on the human figure became so pronounced that the disc disappeared, leaving Eros or Nike simply suspended from the earlobe by means of a hook of gold wire.
Another very popular type of ear ornament from the Classical period is the helix earring, comprising a tubular piece of thin gold leaf twisted into a spiral with various decorative motifs as terminals. This had already existed in the Archaic period and was very well known to the Oriental Greek world as early as the 7th century BC. Many examples have been found in Cyprus, Rhodes, Thrace, Macedonia and Southern Russia, all related to the same prototype, probably of Cypriot origin, descended from the Mycenean spirals of Enkomi. Towards the mid-4th century BC, another form of earring appeared, consisting of an open circle with a small pointed finial on one side and a larger terminal in the shape of a human or animal head on the other. There are similar examples with human or animal heads on both terminals, one larger than the other. These remained popular throughout the Hellenized world until the beginning of the i st century BC. The favourite motif for the terminal was the lion head, but antelopes’, rams’, dogs’ and bulls’ heads are also known, their eyes set with gemstones or coloured glass pastes.
Both helix and animals’ head earrings raise the question of how they were worn. By modern standards they seem too large to be pushed through a hole in the earlobe, but no alternative fitting has ever been found. We must assume, therefore, that in the past women submitted themselves to far greater tortures than we are prepared to suffer today for the sake of fashion.
The conquests of Alexander the Great between 333 and 322 BC transformed the Greek world. Vast territories came within the Greek sphere of influence, while at the same time Greece itself was exposed to influences from Egypt and Asia. The Hellenistic age, as culturally and artistically defined, lasted from about 322 BC until the inauguration of the Roman Empire in 27 BC. Much jewellery has survived from this period. Gold became more widely available through intensive mining in Thrace and the dispersal of captured Persian treasures.
Earrings were designed as simple gold hoops either decorated at the front with a
single motif, such as a bird, a dolphin, a bunch of grapes, or a negro’s head, or hav-
ing a pendant in the form of such a motif. Much use was made of glass paste and gemstones to pick out details and create contrasts of colour, and a new technique known as `dipped enamel’ was introduced to give a multicoloured effect, especially to earring pendants in the shape of birds or other creatures.
Together with these types, which are very typical of their period, many other earrings of older design continued to be produced and amongst these the disc-andpendant model was perhaps the favourite.
Etruscan
The earliest remains of the Etruscans of central Italy are dated about 700 BC, continuing in a recognizable form until about the i st century BC. Their great wealth, attributable largely to the mineral resources of the country, is reflected in the sumptuousness of their tombs. In female graves, vessels of precious metal and silver and gold jewellery such as fibulae, pectorals, bracelets and elaborate earrings reflect not only the important role women had in that society, but also jewellery’s function of `hoard’ and ‘reserve fund’. Although in its earliest manifestations Etruscan art was remarkably free of Greek influences, it did not long remain so, and by the end of the 7th century Be Greek artistic influence was becoming increasingly significant. Etruscan art, however, never lost its identity completely.
The earliest Etruscan earrings, of about 625 BC, in the shape of crescents and hoops, are not dissimilar to those found elsewhere in the Greek world at the same time. The first truly Etruscan form of earring made its appearance just before the
p. 28, 29 mid-6th century. The type is known as a baule, Italian for a bag or a travelling case, and it is perhaps the best known form of Etruscan ornament. Its popularity lasted just over a century. It consists of a strip of gold leaf bent round to form a cylinder, the two ends connected by a gold wire also acting as a suspension hoop. The ends of the cylinder were sometimes closed by a circular gold plate. The decoration, consisting of gold leaf application in the form of stylized flowers and rosettes, embossed leaves or geometrical motifs, filigree and granulation occasionally embellished with polychrome enamels, shows a certain ‘horror vacui’, pressing as many decorative details as possible onto the small gold surface.
Another type of earring of typical Etruscan design, which first appeared in the second half of the 6th century, is the disc richly decorated with concentric bands of
P. 3 I floral and geometrical motifs embossed or made of filigree and granulation, often inlayed with gemstones, amber or glass paste. Earstuds would perhaps be a more appropriate name for this type of ornament, with a hollow tube at the back ending in a loop to be pushed through the earlobe and a safety chain attached to the side of the disc for fixing the loop. The origin of these large ear-ornaments, which in some cases measure as much as 7cms in diameter, is probably Lydia.
In the 5th century BC the most fashionable and widespread form of ornament in the
P 30 Etruscan world was a type of earring consisting of a tubular hoop decorated at one end with the head of a woman, a river-god, a ram or a lion. With slight variations, it remained popular throughout the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
Among the most characteristic earrings of the 4th and 3rd centuries is the
P 29, 31 horseshoe-shaped plaque type, mounted with a cluster of embossed globules, hollow inside in order to act as containers for perfumed oil. An entirely Etruscan creation, these earrings were very popular throughout the country as can be seen from the many surviving examples and their frequent reproduction on terracotta and vase paintings. Particularly interesting in this respect is a group of votive statues found in Lavinium, depicting female figures bejewelled with necklaces and earrings of this type apparently moulded directly from the gold originals. These cluster earrings remain very frequent in tombs of the 4th century Be and tend to disappear in favour of new models coming from abroad only towards the end of the Classical age.
What we can describe as a ‘Greek Taste’ did not appear in Etruscan jewellery until the last thirty years of the 4th century and must be seen in the context of the general process of Hellenization which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. The typical Etruscan forms gradually disappeared to be replaced by the more international disc-and-pendants, the pendants supporting shapes such as inverted pyramids, birds, bells and amphorae, or by hoops decorated at the front with amber heads of negroes. In some examples local tradition and external influence blend together; e.g., a gold hoop, decorated at the front with a horseshoe-shaped motif typical of the Etruscan taste, supporting a female head pendant of pure Tarentine inspiration.
Rome and Byzantium
Examples of silver and gold jewellery from pre-Republican and Republican Rome are very scarce. From those that survive we can conclude that between 70o and 250 Be Roman jewellery was for all practical purposes Etruscan. Material is even scarcer for the period between 25o and 27 BC, but we may assume that Roman jewellery, as well as Etruscan, was basically the same as Hellenistic.
For many centuries jewellery was a luxury looked upon with official disapproval in the Roman world. The amounts of gold which might be buried with the dead and which a Roman lady might wear were fixed by law. Certain items of personal adornment, moreover, such as finger rings, were strictly reserved to certain social classes and for specific occasions.
By 27 BC, when the Roman empire was established, Rome had finally swallowed up the remnants of the Hellenistic world with the annexation of Egypt in 30 BC. The political changes, however, had very little effect on minor arts, and during the first years of the empire jewellery continued to be produced in Hellenistic forms. The major centres of jewellery manufacture were the old Hellenistic centres of Antioch and Alexandria, followed by Rome itself. Progressively wealth, luxury and ostentation replaced Republican sobriety and jewellery became important in display.
In the eastern part of the empire and in Egypt earrings designed as plain hoops or hoops decorated with human and animal heads of Hellenistic tradition continued to be produced with only minor variations until the 2nd century AD. Other types consisted of long S-shaped hooks with variously designed pendants. A new type appeared suddenly in the i st century AD and lasted for about a hundred years. It consisted of a gold hemisphere with an S-shaped hook fitted at the back, sometimes surmounted by a similar but smaller boss. This was very popular: many examples have been found as far apart as Rome, Cyprus, Siphnos and Palestine, and it is also frequently depicted on mummy portraits. Closely related is a type consisting of a spherical cluster of pearls or beads.
In the course of the 2nd century AD a whole new class of earrings appeared, quite unrelated to Hellenistic shapes. In its simplest form it consisted of a gemstone set in a large bezel holding a drop pendant, secured to the earlobe by means of an S-shaped hook. During the same period earrings were produced in the form of circular gem-set elements supporting horizontal bars with two or three pendants. Gemstones including sapphires, emeralds, aquamarines and topazes were by now freely employed in jewellery.
Literary sources such as Pliny, Seneca and Petronius have much to say on the subject of inaures andpendentes. Earrings were the favourite manner of displaying wealth for the patrician lady who often turned for advice to the auricolae ornatrices, women whose job was to attend to the problems caused by prolonged wearing of large and heavy earrings. The new extravagance has been referred to by Pliny who tells us that Caligula’s wife Lollia Paulina wore emeralds and pearls on her hair, head, arms and fingers as well as on her ears at everyday functions. Women, he says, liked to wear earrings set with two or three pearl drops that rattled at the slightest movement of the head; hence their name of crotalia.
During the 3rd century AD the Roman empire began to crumble; during the 4th it was divided into an eastern and a western empire; and during the 5th the western half collapsed leaving only the eastern empire, governed from Constantinople (formerly Byzantium). One effect of these changes was that Oriental influences were again powerful in Western art, but as far as jewellery is concerned, Roman techniques and
P. 32, 33 forms continued to be used and earrings with two or three gemset pendent drops remained normal.
Earrings appeared to have fallen from favour during the Byzantine period, with fashionable ladies preferring to wear large and elaborate ornaments on the temple or sides of the face, similar to those worn by the empress Theodora in the mosaic of San Vitale in Ravenna, but they did not completely disappear. The only truly Byzantine form of earring which was popular in the late 6th and 7th centuries consists of a large but light pierced gold crescent decorated with openwork stylized flower and scroll motifs.
In western Europe, jewellery production declined drastically, and only one form of earring stands out as original. This consists of a wire hoop, simple or twisted, decorated with a polyhedral motif, usually inset with garnets. The popularity of this type is confirmed by finds from Ostrogothic, Merovingian and Southern Russian sites dating from the 5th to the 9th century.
The Middle Ages
Although the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are particularly rich periods for jewellery in general, the role of earrings is so minor that one can say that they virtually disappear for the six hundred years between the i i th and i 6th centuries. The reason for this is to be found in hair and dress fashion: elaborate hairstyles, headdresses and high collared costumes left very little scope for earrings.
In the Middle Ages it was customary for a woman, especially married women, to conceal their hair with a coiffe hubet and from the middle of the 12th century with a barbette, which consisted of a stiffened head-band worn with a chin strap concealing the ears. Respectable married women had to keep their heads covered when seen in public, a rule which went back to St Paul: ‘For if the woman be not covered, let her be shorn or shaven: if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven let her be covered.’ The concealment of a woman’s hair was a way of demonstrating dependency on her husband who was the only man with the privilege of seeing it (a woman loosening her barbette in public would be regarded as unladylike and morally lax) and explains why unmarried girls were allowed to wear long and flowing hair. In both cases, however, the scope for earrings was non-existent; with the barbette the chin band covered the ears and the cheeks, not only preventing the use of earrings but also hindering eating and even speaking; on the other hand unmarried girls with their hair flowing over their ears also did not have the opportunity to display earrings. During the 13th century written evidence for earrings occurs only in books like the Roman de la Rose where unusual jewels such as earrings are listed: ‘Et met a ses deux oreilletes. Deus verges d’or pendans greletes’.
Around the middle of the 14th century hair fashions underwent a considerable change, becoming much more elaborate and frequently embellished with precious
head ornaments. One of the typical coiffures, which developed at the end of the 14th P. 37 century and retained its popularity for more than a hundred years, consisted of two thick braids of hair looped over the ears; another consisted of hair puffed out and padded over the ears and kept in shape by a gold net. The changes, however, did not improve the scope for earrings.

Delftware
The manufacture of British tin-glazed earthenware began in the 16th century, when it was known as “galley ware possibly named after wares transported by galleys from Spain and Italy. The most important centres of production in Britain were Southwark, Aldgate, and Lambeth in London, Norwich, Brislington, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Wincanton.
EARLY DELFTWARE
A record of 1567 tells of the arrival in Norwich of such Dutch potters as Jaspar Andries and Jacob Jansen, who had fled Antwerp to escape religious persecution. These potters established potteries locally and later at Aldgate in the east of London. Very few examples of 16th-
century British tin-glazed earthenware have survived, apart from some tiles and a number of bulbous-bodied jugs (some with silver mounts). Pottery made during the 17th century is far more common. From the late 1620s virtually until the cessation of tin-glazed production in the late 18th century, there is a considerable body of dated and documentary British delftware, which enables collectors to study the changing shapes and styles of this type of ware over a period of nearly 200 years. From c.1600 small quantities of Chinese porcelain began to be imported by the East India Company into Britain, and some British delftware made from c.1620 shows the influence of these Chinese blue-and-white imported wares. After c.1660 until the end of the 17th century those in the so-called “Transitional” style were copied.
The most notable late 17th-century wares include “blue-dash” chargers, named after the blue dashes around the rim, which were boldly decorated in polychrome with stylized tulips, carnations, oak leaves, biblical subjects, and portraits, particularly Of such monarchs as Charles II, William and Mary, and Queen Anne. The majority of this type are covered with a yellowish
lead glaze on the back, through which the body is clearly visible – it was considered unnecessary to waste the expensive tin glaze on a side that was rarely seen. These dishes have a thick foot-rim around which a cord could be wound for hanging the object on the wall. Other wares included wine-jugs, drug jars, salts, and wide-brimmed dishes. While a few examples show traces of the old Italian-Dutch style, most embrace the continuing fashion for Chinese bloc-and-white wares.
18TH-CENTURY DELFTWARE
From c.1720 British delftware became increasingly distinctive, and the decoration less complex and looser in style. Delftware made in the 18th century tends to be more delicate and intimate (with some robust exceptions from Bristol), and a far greater range of wares was made, including punchbowls, plates, flower-bricks, wall pockets, wine-bottles, guglets, fuddling-cups, pear-shaped jugs, puzzle jugs, posset-pots, and, extremely rarely, tea and coffeewares. While many of these wares were painted with contemporary British subjects –figures, buildings, and landscapes – others are decorated in blue with chinoiserie themes – pagodas, pavilions, Chinese figures, birds, and flowers. Production of British delftware virtually ceased at the end of the 18th century because of the competition from creamware (cream- coloured earthenware).
• BODY British delftware is harder and coarser than the softer, thinner Dutch Delftware
• STYLE before 1620 wares are Italian-Dutch in style; after 1620 the influence of Chinese blue and white is clear; 18th-century wares are less formal, and contemporary British figures and landscapes with chinoiserie subjects remained popular
• GLAZE generally smoother than Dutch Delftware and chips easily; mainly pinkish or bluish; 18th-century glaze is smooth, as opposed to the whiter and “peppered” surface of Dutch Delftware
• PALETTE blue and white dominates; polychrome (iron red, yellow, green, brown, and manganese purple) also used, hit rarer and extremely collectable
• DECORATION this is cruder than Dutch Delftware:
monarchs, bold flowers, oak leaves, chinoiseries
• FLATWARES these have knife-like weals under the outer flange or rim since they were fired in the kiln on stilts
• COLLECTING flatvares are most available; dates and inscriptions and more unusual forms of decoration can increase the value of a piece substantially

Dressers.
The name dresser is derived from the French dressoir, a medieval piece of furniture used either as a sideboard for displaying plate and for serving wine, or in the service quarters for preparing and serving food, and for storing dishes and utensils. The ceremonial functions of the dressoir were transferred during the 16th and 17th centuries to the buffet or court cupboard. Enclosing the space between the middle and the top shelf with doors established the cupboard as we know it. The later type of court cupboard has an open lower stage and recessed cupboards in the upper section, or is a combination piece with cupboards, drawers, and display shelves –the now familiar dresser.
OPEN DRESSERS
The typical South Wales dresser, with an open rack and an open base below the potboard,
is simply a side table with a rack. Similar “open” types evolved in south-west Britain, where the dresser seems to have been established by the mid-18th century. Early 19th-century Cornish examples can be particularly elegant, with bowed cornices in the Regency fashion. Dressers from Devon, whether designed for parlour or dairy, were usually of oak or elm, and plain in style. Those for use in the dairy had open bases. The type with cupboards in the base evolved into the fully enclosed dresser with glazed upper shelves in the early 19th cent.
Most Somerset dressers were classically  simple. One 19th-century type has a boarded back to the upper stage, which generally consists of three shelves, and a pair of drawers surmounting cupboards in the base; elm and/or pine are the usual timbers. Late 18th-century dressers from the Bridgwater area consist of open shelves throughout, with side supports of continuous planks.
EARLY DRESSERS
The early dresser consisted simply of a side table with drawers supported on turned legs. Some examples had stretchers, and from the late 17th century this base structure became the framework for a “potboard”, or shelf. From the early 17th century these low dressers were also made with cupboards below the drawers and, later, with additional drawers between two cupboards. With the fashion for tin-glazed earthenware after c.1650 the “delft rack” – a set of shelves on which to display delftware – was introduced. It was not long before such racks were set up on dresser bases to form an integrated item of furniture – the dresser with a superstructure.
The medieval dressoir, combining usefulness and display, was thus re-invented c.1790 for the homes of the middle classes, particularly in the rural northern and western areas of Britain.
The dresser flourished as an important item of furniture, most particularly in Wales, but also in the north-west and south-west of England, with each type having strong regional characteristics. The dresser was a country type, distinct from fashionable metropolitan furniture, and the object of desire of the well-to-do farmer. Designs were therefore traditional and conservative rather than modish, which makes dating them difficult.
CLOSED DRESSERS
Dressers from north Wales and northern England (Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire) are nearly always closed, with boards behind the shelves in the upper part. A distinctive early type from the Caernarvon area in north-west Wales has a pair of spice cupboards set into the rack, and such cupboards also appear in dressers from northern and western England. Small spice drawers placed in varying parts of the upper stages are features of many 18th-century dressers from northern Britain. The “dog-kennel” dresser, with its cupboards flanking a central open space in the base, originated in the Carmarthen area, but was later made in other parts of Wales, and in England.
Sonic mid-Wales dressers combine the “northern” and “southern” forms, having potboards below and racks boarded at the back. A version of this pattern is the Montgomery dresser, characterized by its broad proportions and pilaster cupboards flanking the shelves in the rack. The Shropshire dresser has cabriole legs, some resting on potboards, while others are freestanding. Either way their broadness is emphasized by square cupboards in the upper section, in contrast to the slender pilaster cupboards of the Montgomery dresser.
TIMBER AND DECORATION
Most dressers were made from oak, but fine examples in elm, ash, fruitwood, yew, chestnut, and walnut exist. Pine dressers were made in Scotland, Ireland, and Southwest England, and many of them were painted. While they too can be identified by their regional characteristics, these dressers were primarily utilitarian, in contrast to those made in Wales, the West Midlands, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and the north-west of England, which were important showpieces, handed down from generation to generation.
Decorative motifs as well as patterns of construction sometimes spread far beyond their areas of origin. The inlaid floral motif, sometimes known as “line and berry”, familiar on dressers from around Swansea, appears on dressers from the eastern coastal areas of North America. Oak furniture with inlaid decoration or mahogany crossbanding on drawers suggests a West Yorkshire, Lancashire, or Cheshire origin.
In the 19th century many dressers were decorated with grained paintwork or stains. In Ireland the dresser, which hardly appeared before the 19th century, had a vigorously fretted and often pierced cornice with pilasters flanking the rack, and shaped sides projecting forward to enclose the sides of the working surface. The bases of some arc open and may have been curtained, while others have chicken coops in the base. Scottish dressers also typically have upstanding lips at either end of the boards; some have sloping tops to the racks to accommodate the low, angled roofs of crofters’ cottages. The so-called hen coop in the centre of sonic Scottish dresser bases was actually a slat-fronted food cupboard.

MADE-UP DRESSERS during the 19th century dressers
were made from recycled timbers, or as reproductions although from new timbers; with over 100 years of patination, many of these look 18th century MARRIAGES Often bases and racks arc put together; some low dressers may have had racks added to them.
• ALTERATIONS backboards have often been added to open racks; repairs to the feet are inevitable because of the ravages of wear, damp floors, and woodworm; shaped aprons and carved friezes have often been added to “improve” plain dressers.

Candelabra – table candlesticks with branches for extra lights – began to be made from c.1660 and increased in popularity, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. A candelabrum consists of a central shaft with two or more detachable scroll branches supporting candle sockets; sometimes there is also a socket at the top of the shaft. Made in similar styles to candlesticks and by the scone makers, candelabra were likewise generally produced in pairs. Most found today, are in good condition, because they were better made and much more expensive than candlesticks and therefore were not subjected to the same amount of wear or damage.
THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
Although examples are known from the late 17th century, few candelabra dating from before the 1770, survive today. Until the late 18th century most had two branches, but matching branches and stems were not particularly popular or fashionable until c.1750. As on candlesticks, detachable nozzles for the sockets appeared c.1740. To be of value to collectors, a candelabrum should have all its separate parts – the branches, the nozzle, and the stem – in the same style and hearing the same maker’s marks. Before -.1750 branches were often considered awkward and so were discarded and the stem used as a candlestick.
French silversmiths createdd some of the finest Rococo candelabra in the early and mid-18th century. One of the most famous examples is a single three-hranched candelabrum designed in 1734-5 by juste-Aarele Meissonnier (1695-1750), Royal Goldsmith to King Louis XV of France, and executed by Claude DLIVivicr (1688-1747) for the English Duke of Kingston. It has an extraordinary, asymmetrical, spiralling stem with three richly sculpted branches ending in flower-shaped sockets, and a cast finial in the form of a cluster of leaves, which can be removedto hold a fourth candle. Such pieces fully exploit the plastic, sculptural qualities of cast sib, er, and had a particular influence in England, where elaborate Rococo candelabra were made by such leading silversmiths as George Wickes ( 1698-11-61) and Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751) in the 1740s and 1750x. All such pieces are exceptionally rare and valuable today and fetch high prices on the market.
THE LATER 18TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
In the early 18th century the hour for dining was generally about 3p.m., but lit the latter part of the century it was put back and the main meal of the day was often eaten after dark. For this reason, more light was needed, and so candelabra from the 1770s onward usually have at least three branches. Elegant and light Neo-classical forms, with fluted or plain tapering baluster stems, simple, slender branches, and urn-shaped sockets, all decorated with beading and reeding, were especially popular. Such designs were produced in cast and loaded sheet silver and Sheffield plate; some candelabra have silver stems but Sheffield plate branches, perhaps to reduce the cost. Similarly, candelabra made entirely in Sheffield plate often had a matching set of more expensive silver candlesticks.
THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
Massive, heavy silver-gilt candelabra are characteristic of the Regency period. Made largely to impress, these often form part of elaborate table centrepieces. Magnificent candelabra were made by the leading English goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell (est. 1805) and by Paul Story (1771-1844) for the Prince of NXiale, (later King George IV) and his circle. Such pieces – such as one made by Edward Farrell in I824 – have five or more branches, sometimes with double sockets, and stems lit the form of caryatids or mythological figures. Earlier candelabra were often altered to suit new tastes: a pair of candlesticks ordered by the Earl of Carlisle from the firm Parker & Wakelin (est. -.1758) in 1770 was supplemented with double branches in 1780 and triple branches in 1826.
THE LATER 19TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
Most candelabra made in the later 19th century are of loaded sheet silver or plate, and many have figures supporting the candle sockets or as decoration on the base. After the introduction of oil lighting, some candelabra were converted to oil lamps. in the second half of the 19th century a huge range of items, including candelabra, was produced using the new method of electroplating. Following the invention of the electric battery in the early 19th century, an English doctor named John Wright experimented with electrolysis to coat the surface of base-metal objects with precious metal. In 1840 the Birmingham firm of Elkington & Co. (est. c.1830), in partnership with Wright, took out the first patent for this new process. Known as “electroplating”, it involved the immersion into a plating bath of a nickel object attached to a positive anode and a block of pure silver attached to a negative anode. When the electric current was switched on, silver particles passed through the solution and were deposited on the nickel object; the same process could be used both for gilding and for replacing worn objects.
The introduction of electroplating led quickly to the decline of the Sheffield-plate industry. The new process was far safer than the old one, but its main advantage was that it enabled objects to be formed entirely by traditional silversmithing methods before being plated, making complex sculptural ornament possible. By comparison,handles and borders made in Sheffield plate had to be silver. Condition Is important stamped out from sheet silver, filled with lead, and applied.
Elkington & Co. and the marm, other electroplate manufacturers established in the 1850s and 1860s produced a huge range of electroplated items, from chargers, ewers, and centrepieces richly decorated with valuable ornament in various historical styles to cutlery, frames, and spoon-warmers. Elkington employed the French sculptor Leonard Morel-l.aclertil ( 1820— ) to design splendid Renaissance-style pieces for display at international exhibitions. The firm also used the process of electrotyping - taking a mould front an object and depositing onto it a thin layer of silver, backed with base metal - to produce facsimile copies of a number of historically important pieces of silverware, in particular a collection of Tudor and Jacobean silver held in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow.
Since such large quantities of electroplate still exist, it is important to buy pieces in the very best condition. Electroplate can usually be distinguished from Sheffield plate by the harsher colour of the pure silver (the sterling standard was used in Sheffield plate) and the lack of visible series, and joins, which are hidden by the layer of deposited silver.