OLD SILVER TEAPOTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 76, 10 January 1928, Page 7

OLD SILVER TEAPOTS

AN ENGLISH ART.

All old teapots are interesting, as much of the home life of the people who used them can be learnt from their shape, their style of ornament, and their capacity, writes J. A.,Bourne in the “Daily Telegraph.” Old silver teapots are no exception and are much sought after by lovers of the antique, whether the teapots he the very small ones of the reign of Queen Anne, or the large- chased ones of the reigns of William IV. and Victoria. It is easily understood why they were made- so small in the time of Ann© when it is recalled that the price of tea in those days varied) from £4 to £5 per pound Only tlie very wealthy drank it then, and it was considered a great delicacy to- he tasted as a luxury rather than consumed as a beverage. Compare this with tea at a shilling or two a pound and large families continually drinking it, and the progression in size of teapot models, silver or other, is at once explained. The usual shape of the teapot made during the time of Queen Anne was octagonal, not oval and with half-fluted sides, which style is to-day called “Queen Anne pattern.” In most cases the genuine Queen Anne teapots are very heavy, and l consequently in the auction room they fetch high figures, quite beyond the average collector’s purse. Not that a complete collection of teapots is advocated, although should anyone have the whim to start one, he would find an -enormous variety of shapes and styles of decoration, which would take a lifetime to collect.

The teapots made in the time of George 4. were usually small, round, and squat, rather like miniature Dutch cheeses, often quite plain, but just as often with the lid and the top of the hotly beautifully chased witli scrolls and leaves. Scottish teapots made in the reign of George 11. are sometimes found. They are nearly always “pegtop” shape, with, the lid 1 decorated after the manner of the earlier smaller ones. It was during the reign of George 111. that tea became a universaj beverage, and it is during that period that we find the greatest variety of designs for teapots. Collectors of moderate means can hardly hope to acquirer pieces much earlier than those of that period. Three types were made during that reign. The earliest of the three, was made chiefly during the years 1760 and 1800. This teapot was a plain oval one, with the lid slightly domed, and was made in London in the year 1794 bv Michael Plummer, who was entered in the books of the GolV*miths’ Company in 1791. Very often, however, this type is beautifully engraved with work which it would be well-nigh impossible to have done to-day with the same skill and care for detail.

Another well-known shane was in great demand from about 1800 to 1820. It is oblong in shape, quite Plain, and stands on four ball feet. The handle of this particular example is made of wood, though quite often it is of silver, when it is always marked by the HtfJl, with the lion and the King’s head, just above the lower socket. A good many are engraved, though the double rib is always retained, modified to a more or less extent as tlie workman' mav think suitable for the engraver’s design, to be put on later. The date of this pot is 1807. ; An unusual style was made in Dub lin in 1818 by West. It is a very homely pattern, simple in design and severely devoid of ornamentation, except for the band-of reeding round tlie top of the body. A quaint feature of it is tlie hinge, with a thumb-piece for raising the lid, after the manner of a tankard.