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 This Silver and two colour parcel gilt[1] Claret Jug, hall-marked in Birmingham
1880 with the mark of Frederick Elkington and Company can be seen at Somerset House, London in the Gilbert Collection.
[2] Although a manufacturer produced it that had made his fortune from the Electro-plating process, it is a particularly interesting silver jug for its stylish form in
the aesthetic fashion[3].
It now conveys to the viewer a refined style that was seen in the Victorian
period as one championing purity of expression against the worst excesses of
Victorian eclecticism.[4] Its elegant appearance is improved
by the etching, chasing and engraving in a decorative manner on its surface
further enhanced by various tones of gilding. The Art of Japan was held up as the heart of sophisticated design and this particular jugs decoration seems inspired by the woodblock prints of Japan. Elkington’s had been a particularly successful maker of silverwares exhibiting side by side with Hunt & Roskell, Garrards and others at the Great Exhibition of 1851. It has been observed that in England after the late 1860s, the silver trade was in some decline,[5] but as far as style movements were concerned it was an extremely interesting time. It appears that there were primarily three main conduits of identifiable influence, which could be broken down into other paths of activity. Firstly William Morris and William Burge, leading the historical trend for medieval and Renaissance works. Secondly the moralised writings of both Henry Cole and John Ruskin leading, on the one hand, to C.R. Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft[6] and on the other the strategy of Liberty and Company.[7] The third inspiration was Japans’ design influence that was sweeping right through Europe and across America after the opening up of trade to Japan with the treaty orchestrated by the American Commander Perry in 1854. What should be borne in mind was the recognition of the decline in quality of industrially produced Silver and Christopher Dressers’, contribution to improving that trend. Dresser published several influential books including The Art of Decorative Design and Principals of Decorative Design.   In the 1870s he produced designs for Hukin &
Heath, James Dixon’s and Elkington’s. He had placed emphasis on pure form and
the role of the machine in its manufacture. In 1882 he published Japan: Its
Architecture and Art Manufactures, which stimulated even further interest
in Japonaiserie. Elkingtons’ were certainly influential in relation to the designers
they commanded. The best were drawn from France and even Japan itself to proliferate
the new demand. However it should be noted that in this three colour gilt
Aesthetic teapot of 1880 with fugu fish finial. The company shows its skill
at integrating the styles of East and West for the market-place. The decoration
whilst being purely drawn from Japan combines uniquely with the shape of a purely
English teapot. As a pioneer Elkington’s took a serious interest in this style. However they were soon disadvantaged, as opposed to Tiffany’s in America, because the hallmarking laws made it illegal in England to combine other material with silver. Elkington therefore produced these superbly decorated parcel-gilt decorated wares in the Japanese manner. The jug can be seen to relate to the stylised flying oriental bird and blossom and butterflies. This design became a popular and a recurring theme to their wares as can be seen in the illustrated tray of silver parcel gilt of 1877, which was 14 inches long and of oriental fan shape. The tonal effect of the gilt applied on the highlights of the design bought some desirable colour and spatial depth into the wares.  As for the techniques employed to finish this
jug, perhaps the chaser was acknowledged as the most specialist of the craftsmen.
In this process, no silver is removed, the punches simply produce soft and undulating
edges as opposed to the sharp cuts achieved with the engravers tools. In etching,
the surface is covered with wax, which is then cut through showing exposed silver.
It is then put in acid, which eats into the exposed areas. When the wax is removed
the etched decoration is what remains to produce shadow effects to accentuate
perceived high and low relief in the work. All these techniques were used in
producing this series of articles but the gilding is the final process before
polishing to finish the design. In the illustation of foliage above, the difference is compared between hand finished engraving on the left and machine embossed technique on the right. The hand process is cleaner, brighter and sharper than the soft edges of the embossed design.  In the gilding process originally
powdered gold was mixed with mercury and painted onto the object. The article
is heated and the mercury evaporates leaving the gold fused to the surface.
Unfortunately the mercury vapour was toxic and there was a danger of death to
the craftsmen using this method. In the early 19th century, electro
gilding was introduced and gold was deposited using an electrolytic process.
The mercury process became illegal in England after discovery of the latter
process. The whole process of gilding was used in this vase to enhance the decorative
appearance but initially gilding was used for other reasons too. To enhance
the status of an article, prevent tarnishing and to ward off the effects of
corrosive substances in table items, like salt, vinegar, wine and egg yolk.
Therefore interiors of articles and vessels for such use would be gilded, sometimes
‘double’ gilded for protection and appearance, as this one has been.[8] Finally the item would be sent to the assay office for hallmarking which in this case was Birmingham in 1880. So the mark stamped on the vase is the makers mark for Elkington, in this case an ‘E & Co’ on a raised shield. A Lion passant (in Birmingham from 1875, looking straight ahead as opposed to guardant, looking over its shoulder as at Chester, Sheffield and York) this mark sometimes called the standard or  sterling mark. Then the Anchor mark for Birmingham
in a rectangular box with champher corners, Queen Victoria’s head in an oval
cartouche facing west and the year letter of a small script ‘f’ in oval
cartouche.[9] In considering analysis for the market of this particular item, again a comparison would have to be drawn on the provenance of the item as discussed in the preceding article. In this case it is part of the Gilbert Collection and as such would never come to the market place. However, if it did, the price estimate for auction would almost certainly be based on similar pieces elsewhere, but they would be severely beaten in value because of this particular vases collector importance. Current achieved auction prices for similar Claret jugs of Victorian silver, but not by this maker were as follows: -
The marked drop in value terms of silver sales, historically and currently will be further discussed and expanded in the next article. All rights protected.
[1] Term referring to an object made out
of silver and partially covered with gold- ‘parcel’ being corruption
of word ‘partially.’ -see Ian Pickford, Antique Silver p.37
and bibliography. (Also see page 3, this article for fuller explanation of
the technique.)
[2] Gilbert Collection, gifted to the nation,
1996 by Arthur Gilbert, who from 1949 lived in California, but this collection
deemed by many to be greatest of its kind, he decided to give to the nation
of his birth. It is now housed at the former refurbished Somerset House site
on the Embankment-see The Gilbert Collection Catalogue Somerset House,
London pp.3 – 4.
[3] Style movement associated with late
19th century doctrine-“art for art’s sake” not needing to
justify existence by serving a particular use. Championed by Beardsley, Whistler
and Oscar Wilde amongst others.
[6] Rejection of machine made articles
in favour of hand-crafted items, setting up of ‘Guild’ - move from
London to Chipping Camden – articles and transportation to market not cost
effective- see Mary Greenstead, Arts and Crafts in the Cotswolds, Studio
Vista, 1971.
[7] Entering into partnership with Omar
Ramsden and Alwyn Carr & others who produced machine made items undercutting
Ashbee and imitating the hand made appearance.
[8] Full text of processes can be found
in Elizabeth Drury ‘Antiques’ Brockhampton, London 1997, pp.168-169.
see also bibliography.
[10] Figures researched on search indices,
courtesy of the Antiques Trade Gazette and Invaluable.com
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