Over the years, I've examined many pieces of Martelé, and if you dear reader will forgive me for a bit of crudeness, most of them are "trashed." Specifically, the detail is severely worn away, leaving the beauty of the overall design still appreciable but no longer intact.
Why? Because Gorham made a bit of a bargain with the devil, and used .950 or .9584 silver to make...
This is a grand tea tray, fully two feet (exclusive of handles) by sixteen inches. I was tempted to include a foot, a baby or a small dog for scale, but judged the former to be in poor taste and could not furnish either of the latter. Buy it now, and watch the value increase as world order ceases to function!
A similar example, held by the Art Institute of Chicago, is shown in Chickering, plate 52; page 111.
A William C. Codman design, identical examples may be found in both the Jolie and Robert Shelton Collection, "Magnificent, Marvelous Martelé," pp. 498-9 and the MFA Boston, accession number 2001.804
For related items by this maker, see Forbes figure 61c and Chait number 251. This is the first China Trade strainer spoon we've encountered in the course of twenty eight years. To call this piece "rare" would be an understateme...
A solid, well-constructed and wearable piece of jewelry which is equally suited for every day or a special occasion.
What sets this item apart from other examples which have recently been on the market is, simply stated, condition. Not only are the floral decorations crisp and untouched by polishing wear, but their gentle background of chasing marks remains (see third photo), creating an effect of kumatage, as if the decorations were suspended in a pool of rippling water.
...
On Hold
I hesitate to use the word "rare" in a description, as it is tossed around with reckless abandon elsewhere on this world-wide web, but a fairly thorough search has turned up few if any other exa...
If pressed as to why you, dear reader, should buy these Iris fish forks as opposed to some others listed elsewhere on the interwebz, I'd have to say that ours are probably in better condition. If pressed even harder, I'd confess that these are also attractively priced.
One factor which ultimately contributed to the demise of his firm was that George Shiebler's best designs were difficult to execute and costly to produce. Not many of these forks were made, and the surviving examples vary in quality and condition.
You'll see various historical and current listings, but this is the finest one we've ever had th...
This lovely example is entirely hand wrought, and dates from 1948. There have been a few dents removed from a...
If only we knew a bit more about Minnie, a good tale might be told, but alas we know nothing of this lass.
Even without the exquisitely engraved blade this would have been a rare find, so we're doubly pleased. Note: although this server is hollow handled, we do not believe it to be weighted.
These come and go, but I don't think we've ever owned one where the chasing is so crisp and the original oxidation hasn't been at least partially removed by some overzealous owner.
Finally, for those of you who favor comparison shopping, see item 223105898219 on the big bad auction si...
There is slight tip wear from right handed use, a few minor insults to the bowl (including a scratch, reverse), and significant wear to the monogram "B / E * E". On the whole, however, this spoon presents itself well. To quote Quimby in American Silver at Winterthur, "Stoutenburgh left a small body of high quality work". Here is a chance to own...
We've bought and sold many Jensen bracelets over the years and are well aware of the insults which they often suffer, but this one is free of deep scratches, hasn't been excessively polished, and has a wonderful smokey gray color.
