If you are having difficulty receiving this email, please click here.

M. FORD CREECH ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS

The series has apparently been getting quite a bit of attention, as Christie's sent a similar email

September 1, entitled "What Makes Us Want More?".  I  hope we are answering that question.

CREAM? –  OR MILK?   So which is it?  And what for? 

Shown above are two 18^th century cream boats, a rare silver cream pail, and 3 cream jugs.  However the British

NEVER take cream in tea – only milk, as cream is so strong that it overpowers the subtle flavor of tea. 

If not tea, then what is the cream for? 

Click for the controversy.....

Do you ever think about your wine glass stem?  

Probably not.  I know you think about WARS & TAXES. These directly affected how our wine glasses look.

England set the standard in drinking glasses during the 18th century. In 1675 glassmaker Ravenscroft developed

a formula with 24-30% lead that would make glass “ping” (which we all love), clearer & less subject to surface

 cracks. (“Soda” glass, an early simple form, cooled more quickly & “plunks” rather than “pings”). Lead glass

was soft, engraved well & cooled slowly, enabling intricate manipulation of the stems. Click here for more....

We also have 4 now rare new hardcover copies of MILLER’S GLASS, by Mark West, at 32.50 EACH.

In the mid-1700’s, the English were just developing their own porcelain – copying forms & painting on wares being

imported from China. The early makers Bow, & Worcester (now well known for ovenproof Evesham) devised their

own fanciful versions of Chinese "reign marks" for some undersides – the English marks called “pseudo” or “mock”

Oriental character marks.

The English marks really mean absolutely nothing - but can assist in identifying the English maker.

Click the images above for more information...
                             

GEORGE III SILVER KITCHEN NUTMEG GRATER
Thomas Phipps, James Phipps II Edward Robinson II, London, 1812
  

Nutmeg was long believed to possess magical powers, being used as amulets to protect against variety of

dangers & evils, boils, rheumatism & broken bones. This 1818 “kitchen” grater has the British Royal Cypher

AF beneath a Royal Coronet – most likely of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, 6th son of George III*.
   

Production of silver graters for nutmeg began in the late 1600's, as a spice for the all-popular "punch", the earliest

graters being larger "kitchen" graters. Small boxes of varying shapes, suitable for carrying on the person, came into

 fashion during the 18th century, and were used throughout the first half of the 19th century.
  
*(George III had two sons with the initials "AF", Augustus Frederick being the more likely of the

two to have owned this grater, due to his life style and pronounced interest in the arts).
  
4-5/8” High / 3.8 Oz.

 SOLD
     

RARE GEORGE III OLD SHEFFIELD PLATE DISH WEDGE
c. 1790, England, Thomas Law & Co.
4-4/8” Long

Of triangular open-sided form with stepped upper diagonal ending in up-curving rests.

The wedge would be placed beneath the edge of a plate or platter, causing the gravies or juices to flow to one side.

They are rare, and found in wood, silver and Old Sheffield Plate during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

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

This mark was registered in 1784.

Note: “Old Sheffield Plate” is a process of fusing silver to copper or a base metal through heating and hammering –

then worked as a single sheet of silver might be handled. It was discovered in 1743 by Thomas Bolsover while mending

a knife. Old Sheffield Plate has about a 100 year history of use, being replaced by electroplate (silverplate) in the 1840’s,

and all but extinct by 1850. There was no Old Sheffield Plate displayed at the 1851 First World’s Fair at the Crystal

Palace in London. It is not always marked – that mark being quite different from silver, and never saying “Sheffield”.

If a piece has the word “Sheffield” written on the underside, then it is silverplate.

If there is a topic in our area of specialty about which you are curious, drop us a line. 

We will see what we can do for you.

Gallery Hours : Wed - Sat 11-6 Central, or by appointment

All other times by email or cell