Rare Charles II Silver Brazier
Mark of "B", London, 1677

Square with four cut corners, each having a raised double scroll support, the sides pierced with

a band  of fleur-de-lys motifs, the sunken square center with a raised central dome, raised on four

double C- scroll feet;  Mark: B in oval punch; ref. Jackson’s 2009, p. 133, found on a communion

service dating 1675, Titchfield, Hants

Peter Waldron, Antique British Silver: “Dish crosses were a development from the much earlier

braziers (which are so rare that they do not fall within the scope of this book…” ). Old London Silver

(Montague) relates their onset at the time of Queen Anne (1702-14), using hot coals for heating, with

a receptacle at the bottom to receive the ashes.  They were usually pierced for ventilation, and raised

on short legs to keep the heat from the table. They were fitted with rising dish supports. 

12.5 oz. /  4” High x 6.25” Wide

Chelsea Porcelain Leaf Dish

England, c1755-57

Of shaped and molded cos lettuce form with fluted green-enameled edges centering

a raised puce vein ending in a curled stem-form handle

8” Long

George III Silver Pierced Pastry/Fish Server

Charles Aldridge & Henry Green

London, 1773

Of the very desirable triangular pierced and bright cut form

12.5" Long / 5.5 oz.

The second half of the 18th century saw the introduction of a trowel-form pierced server, used at the time for both fish and pudding.  The workmanship on the early examples is rather extraordinary - with intricate foliate-cut designs to the triangular blade, further embellished with bright cutting.  They are now used for serving a great variety of foods - most particularly pastries.  These triangular forms are the most sought after of the fish serving pieces.

Colin Campbell Cooper

American (New York / California) 1856-1937

"New York City Scene" - probably Columbus Circle, c1910

Oil on Board

Signed l.r. CCC, 

verso with initials CCC and stamp: The Colin Campbell Cooper Collection"    

Image size: 4.25" x 6.25"

The New York Times wrote in 1911 that “first and foremost in enthusiasm for the modern New York

of today, the city of towering skyscrapers and fevered street traffic, is Colin Campbell Cooper, who

may be considered the skyscraper artist par excellence of America…” Cooper was one of the first

painters to use skyscrapers as an integral part of his subject matter.

  SOLD

Charles II Provincial Silver Wine Taster

England,c1670

Maker's Mark Only (Indistinct), possibly West Country,

Although there are several records of wine tasters in English 14^th and 15^th century manuscripts,

the earliest British silver wine tasters are from the 17^th century, with very few being made after

1750.  Most from the 18^th and 19^th centuries come from France. There were two forms : this

form with the shallow bowl and 2 wire loop handles, and a later form with domed center.

 Interestingly, wine tasters are an outgrowth of small tasters made during the medieval period to

taste contents of bowls, to convince guests that the food was not poisoned.

 3.5" Diameter / 2 oz.

 SOLD

 George III Silver Telescopic Perpetual Calendar Pencil

Joseph Wilmore, Birmingham, 1818

Early & Rare

Of cylindrical telescopic form with floral and foliate bordered diamond embossed seal terminal above

an adjustable perpetual calendar with incised day letters and numbers; the shaft with a sliding floral and

foliate central band, and a plain band with dependent loop; the lower end with horizontal reeding and

corresponding floral and foliate band; fully hallmarked at base and top

4" Long

SOLD

Elizabeth I Silver Seal Top Spoon

Thomas Benbowe (Crescent Enclosing a Pierced Mullet)

London, 1592

The finial prick-engraved (worn) TL over RH (?)

Marks good to excellent; traces of original gilding

6.25” Long / 1.2 oz.

The mark of a crescent encompassing a mullet has been used by several makers, beginning is the 1550’s and into the early 1600’s, originating with Nicholas Bartholomew in 1551, later becoming a workshop motif and was used by goldsmiths within the Bartholomew / Cawdell net. It seems highly likely that Thomas Benbowe was its next proprietor, as he was apprenticed to Nicholas Bartholomew January 16, 1578-9,The mark is fully discussed in London Silver Spoonmakers, 1 500-1697 (Timothy Kent).  The a crescent encompassing a pierced mullet also occurs on seal top spoons (1590-1) in the collection of The Armourers’ Company, London.

1592 was the year that Shakespeare left Stratford for London, the London population then about 200,000 people.  It was also the year that the Black Plague again struck London, closing shops and theatres until December 1593, and killing 10,675 London residents.

SOLD

GEORGE III SILVER KITCHEN

NUTMEG GRATER

Thomas Phipps, James Phipps II Edward Robinson II, London, 1812; Royal Coronet over AF

Most likely for Prince Augustus Frederick,

Duke of Sussex

Of heavy gauge, the mounted curved blue steel body sided by gadrooned uprights and a shell and foliate

handle, the lower end hinged and monogrammed

with a coronet above conjoined initials "AF";

fully marked on body and lid.

4-5/8” High / 3.8 Oz.

David Davidovich Cherson Burliuk

Russian / American 1882-1967

"Woman Bathing in a Stream"

(After Manet)
Mixed Media on Rough Panel
Signed BURLIUK Lower Right

 Image Size: 6” x 7”

This small panel is a very interesting painting by Russian/American early 20th century avant-garde

painter David Burliuk.  Burliuk is best known for his fauvist primitive peasant paintings and florals in

a coastal landscape.  However, he was also an astute student of the earlier French Impressionist

painters - as in this case.

 This panel reinvents a section from  Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass, with a female f

igure in a nightdress bathing in a stream - that particular portion relating back to Rembrandt’s portrait

of his common-law wife Hendrickje Bathing in a River, 1654, pictured also in a nightdress.

Each was considered shocking and “unfinished”in its time. Rembrandt's painting was even considered

a sketch, although no finished painting has been found.  Burliuk has reinvented this theme in a

20^th century manner, on a small rough panel.

Charles II Silver Lace-Back Trefid Spoon

Thomas Issod, London, 1678

(T.Z above a mullet and below a crown)

Also with lace top to the terminal

7.5” Long / 1.4 oz.

TZ crowned over a mullet is attributed to Thomas Issod, from a mark registered in 1697 with TS and a Z below (see London Silver Spoonmakers, 1500-1697, Timothy Kent, p. 50, #61, for a discussion of the mark).  Lace-back trefids are much rarer than plain trefids – the earliest form of the modern spoon.  The earliest trefid recorded is 1662, becoming more common in the 1670’s, only being made until c1700. This spoon bears a lace back in very crisp condition, as well as a lace terminal and shaft to the front.

Charles I Silver Bodkin with Ear Spoon

England, c1630, unmarked

4.5" Long / .1 oz.

A bodkin is a needle like tool that were used for pulling tape or ribbon through a series of loops.  17^th century  clothing was often joined by such ribbons or leather straps.  Bodkins were personal, often carried on the person, and passed through the generations.

SOLD

William & Mary Trefid Sweetmeat Fork

England, c1690
 

The silver-gilt three-tine fork with a very nice French-forked terminal, the front and back

with engraved foliate decoration; unmarked as was often the case in early sweetmeat cutlery

4.12” Long

SOLD

Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill

American (New York) 1874-1929

 "Flower Market in Paris"

Oil on Panel, c1910

Signed l.l E.K.K.Wetherill, and verso, housed in a 22K giltwood carved frame

Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill studied with Thomas Anshutz at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in the late 1890s with J.P. Laurens at the Académie Julian in Paris, and with James Abbot McNeill Whistler, also in Paris. He specialized in views of New York, including figural work as well as landscapes and seascapes.  In 1915 Wetherill received a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco and, in 1926, won a silver medal at the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

"Flower Market in Paris" has a very "light" touch to the well thought-out but simply-painted scene.  The carefully constructed composition is still visible in the underlying pencil lines that graphed the intercepting angles and distances.  The result is as pleasing as the finest symphony, even though having a somewhat casual ease in appearance.  The subtle warm and cool variations of single hues give a soft vibration, reflecting the gentler era gone by.

George I Pedestal (Silesian) Stem Wine, c1725   

George II Engraved Airtwist Ale Glass, c1750  

George II Baluster Wine, c1740

Very early 18th century English drinking glasses were quite heavy.  As the glasses became internationally popular,

a large tax was levied upon glass products by weight in 1746 - and additionally thereafter - usually to support a war. 

Among the most beautiful results of glassmakers' attempts to make glass both lighter and more decorative was to

lighten the stems by poking holes in them - first occurring as airtwist stems.  English lead glass cooled slowly, enabling the spirals to be turned with absolute precision.

Bow Porcelain Unusual Molded Leaf Dish

England, c1765-70

The verso with pseudo Oriental character marks

10.25" Long

This is a rather unusual Bow leaf dish.  Although the ceramic, painting and firing are definitely Bow, the ceramic form appears to be of Chelsea, Meissen, Worcester inspiration. Although a form that did not originate with Bow, it is illustrated, perhaps less vigorously painted, in Bow Porcelain, Gabszewicz and Freeman, p.80, #116.

Commonweralth / Charles II Miniature Silver Porringer

IG, London, c1650-68

Of bulbous form on a short foot, decorated with four panels of sprays of leaves against a stippled ground,

within punch-bead borders, the base embossed with a flower within punch-bead border, wirework scroll

handles and gilt interior, late 18^th century monogram MAK in conjoined script with flourishes;

also scratched verso “Hwd 89”; the mark I.G, a mullet between and a crescent below, within a heart-shaped punch, twice marked with additional indiscernible adjacent small round punches

A cup by this maker is also listed in Goldsmith and the Grape, catalog for Goldsmith Hall’s

exhibition of the  same name, July 1983:  p. 18, #41, 

with the royal cipher C.R  for Charles II (courtesy of the Worshipful Company of Vinters).

Karl Julius Heinrich Yens

Rare Old Sheffield Plate Dish Cross

Thomas Law & Co., England, c1790

4-5/8”Long

Dish wedges were used to lift the edge of a platter, causing the gravy to flow to the well. 

Somewhat rare, they were made is both silver and Old Sheffield Plate.

Thomas Law was one of the pioneers of Old Sheffield Plate, working as early as the 1760's.

Pair of First Period Worcester Bengal Tyger Fluted Teabowls

England, c1768-75

3" Diameter

From a Chinese export original, and copied into the 19th century by Chamberlain and Spode, is a depiction of a fantastic animal resembling a lion with wolf's head, set in lotus panels.  The offered pair of First (Dr. Wall) Period Worcester fluted and barbed teabowls is an early form, with much finer painting and richer coloration that the later versions.

Assembled Set of 4 William & Mary / William III Trefid Spoons

Francis Archbold, 1698, 1699 (2);1692, mark rubbed, poss. Archbold (1); 1694, John Cory (1)

Each crested en suite with a talbot's head erased

7 5/8" Long (3), 7.75" Long (1) /  5.9 oz

Trefid spoons are the first form of the modern spoon, the earliest trefid being recorded in 1662.  They became more common in the 1670’s, only being made until c1700.  During the 17th century, even the wealthy usually possessed only one silver spoon, and would carry it about on the person when traveling.  This set of four spoons was assembled in the late 18th or early 19th century, and bears the crest of the collector.  Three are by the same maker - Francis Archbold, with one by John Cory.  Both makers are shown to be working concurrently at the "signe of the Golden Cupp" - Cory from 1697-1722, and Archbold c1700. 

Selection of Chinese Export Kangxi Miniature Vases

The exact purpose of these small vases is debated.  Some report them as being used for medicine.  These small porcelains are also often described as “doll house vases”, for display in wall cabinets.  They can also be referred to as “toy” porcelains.  Whatever the original concept, they hold a unique charm among early Chinese ceramics. 

Collecting miniatures was a favorite among aristocracy.  Among the influences were the miniature Mogul painting that flowed into Eastern Europe in the 1500’s.  This affection moved quickly to The Netherlands and thence into England during the reign of Mary II (1689 -1694).  It is said that Her rooms at Kensington Palace were decorated with many small vases on displayed on gilded brackets and on little ledges, and on any and every available surface. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) stated that "The Queen (Mary) brought in the custom or humour, as I may call it, of furnishing houses with China-ware, which increased to a strange degree afterwards, piling their China upon the tops of cabinets, scrutores, and every chymney-piece, to the top of the ceilings, and every setting up of shelves for their China-ware, where they wanted such places, till it became a grievance in the experience of it, and even injurious to their families and estates".

Associated Pair of Qingbai Porcelain Cups

China, Yuan Dynasty, 1279–1368

Each similarly molded pale blue-green qingbai-glazed deep round cup with open peony and foliate

decoration above upright lotus petals, scored rims to both the exterior and interior surfaces

2 .75” Diameter

SOLD

Jessie Arms Botke

American (Illinois/California) 1883-1971

“Carmel by the Sea, Peacock and Cockatoos”

Oil on Canvasboard

Signed and titled verso: Jessie Arms Botke, Carmel by the Sea Calif.

  Provenance: Gifted to the family from the artist

Panel Size: 6.5" x 12"

Jesse Arms Botke discovered the peacock when commissioned by the Herter Looms (NY) to paint murals for Billie Burke's home at Hastings-on-the-Hudson. She had not seen peacocks before, first discovering them at the New York zoo. "It was love at first sight and has been ever since," she recalled.  She later stated, concerning her love for birds:

“My interest in birds was not sentimental, it was always what sort of pattern they made, and the white peacock was so appealing because it was a simple, but beautiful white form to be silhouetted against dark background, and the texture and pattern of the lacy tail broke the harshness of the white mass without losing the simplicity of the pattern.”

The work of Jessie Arms Botke is represented in many major collections and museums, including The Art Institute of Chicago, The Carnegie Art Museum, The Irvine Museum, and The Norton Gallery of Art. Her murals are housed in the University of Chicago and the Oxnard California Public Library.

Sweetmeats are sweet delicacies, as candy, or crystallized fruit preserved in sugar.  Service pieces from silver, porcelain and glass were made for sweetmeats during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.  The above pair of escallop shell form sweetmeat dishes are molded both front and back, and painted in famille rose.   Most pairs have long since been divided, and we are quite pleased to be able to offer this surviving pair.

For those of you unfamiliar with famille rose, the term refers to the “Pink family”, a style of decoration in opaque enamels in shades of rose, derived from gold salts.   The lower temperatures from 650°- 800°C producing a rusty rose to rose, the higher temperatures from 950°-1000°C resulting in the violet tones, above which the color disappears altogether.  Developed in the Yongzheng period in China, c1720, by European Jesuits working in the palaces there, it was widely used in the eighteenth century in the West and the Orient.

George III Double Series Opaque Twist

Toasting or Wine Glass

  England, c1765 / Jacobite Interest

Drawn trumpet bowl over a narrow stem with a single thread surrounding a tightly

coiled multi-spiral core,  engraved with a jaybird in flight and fruiting grapevines

    7.25" High

SOLD

Two Danish Silver Hovedvansaegs

19th Century Silver & Parcel Gilt Hovedvansaeg

with lower inscribed & dated lidded compartment

4" High / 1.4 oz.

SOLD

Scandinavian Silver & Parcel Gilt Hovedvansaeg

Denmark, 1780-1820, Maker’s Mark NH

With rising dove finial, lid crest prick-engraved “ASOD”

3” High /  1.2 oz.

Arthur Clifton Goodwin

American, 1864-1929 (MA/NY)

“Sitting in the Park, Boston Commons”

Signed "A. C. Goodwin" l.l. / Pastel on paper

11.25” × 8.5”

Arthur Clifton Goodwin was known primarily for his Boston scenes.  He worked in both oil and pastel, his pastels having particular vibrancy and energy.  During his lifetime, Goodwin gained the recognition of famous art figures, including John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Jack Gardner, and John T. Spaulding. Childe Hassam described Goodwin as ‘the greatest painter in Boston.’ His work was honored in 1974 with a solo exhibition by the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and his works reside in some of the world's finest museums and collections. 

"Sitting in the Park, Boston Commons", is a particularly fine example of his pastels, of a nostalgic mother-daughter scene in what has become a trademark for Boston - The Boston Commons - the country's oldest park - below the statue of Paul Revere on horseback.

George II Silver Brandy Saucepan

EhA, London, 1744

Grimwade, #3543

3.5 oz. / 6.5" Over Handle

Brandy saucepans, or warmers, were probably used to warm butters and sauces as well as brandy.  They  have changed little in form from the Queen Anne period (1702-14) through the mid-19th century - their latest appearance. Those in the early 18th century tend to be smaller, as the most popular of all brandy saucepan shapes pictured above.

Carl Wuttke

German (Munich) 1849 - 1927

Park in Tokyo During The Cherry Blossoms

Oil on canvasboard  / Signed l.l. / Panel size : 7 5/8" x 10 7/8"

Titled l.r. "Tokyo” and dated “26.05.(18)98."

 In 1897-99, Carl Wuttke undertook a world tour, during which he visited China and Japan. In Tokyo in 1898, he painted the above cherry blossoms in bloom.  This small jewel-like painting is in the best of Wuttke's style, executed with spontaneous and energetic brushwork, and with luminous colors.  There are areas of absolutely brilliant impasto work, uniquely imbuing the Munich School with the brushwork of French Impressionism. It is perfection at all levels, and enchanting to view.

Rare Pair of George III Silver Onslow Basting (Serving) Spoons

Thomas Dealtry, London, 1772

11” Long /  5.9 oz.

"View of the Notre-Dame and the Pont De L'Archeveche"
Oil on panel, Signed G. Madelain l.r.

Image size: 9” x 10.5"

A French painter of landscapes, Madelain was born in Charly, France, in 1867, exhibiting at the at the Salon des Independants from 1907.  He was known for his street and river views in Rouen, L'Havre and Paris.  This is one of the finest examples of his work that I have encountered.  The atmospheric effects of the light, the compositional devices, brushwork and coloration, with blue dominance complemented by strategically placed accents of jewel-like vermillion and yellow, make this an exceptional small work.  The result is an enigmatic sense of both energy and quiet.

Qianlong Blue & White Quatrefoil Cup & Saucer

China, c1750

Both the handled cup and saucer with applied long-tailed rabbits viewing flowering

lotus blooms and buds with sinuous tendrils and dots

Saucer, 5" Wide

SOLD

Victorian Silver & Carved Ivory Stilton Cheese Scoop

Mappin & Webb, Sheffield, 1878

10.25" Long