White-painted oval wire or woven fiber basket filled with polychrome wax flowers attached to wire stems, the entire display covered by an oval, clear colorless glass dome or shade on an oval, gilded wood base with four ball feet. Flowers inside the basket include budding and blooming roses, carnation, dahlia, daisy, fuschia, peonies, Stargazer lily and more; lilies-of-the-valley and what appear to be snowdrops are wrapped around the arched basket handle with painted fabric ivy leaves. No marks.
Steam cooker consisting of a removable cylindrical pot with two wire ring handles that fits into an outer cylindrical container on a perforated cylindrical shaft mounted inside a basin attached to a shallow copper pan. Wire-rimmed pot and container have vertical folded seams; basin stamped as one piece. Side of container is embossed "WILMOT CASTLE & CO. (arched) / THE ARNOLD / AUTOMATIC / STEAM COOKER / PAT'D JULY 8 79 MAY 9 82 & SEPT 2 82 / ROCHESTER, N.Y.", all in sans serif letters.
William E. Arnold of Rochester, NY, received U.S. Patent No. 217,314 on July 8, 1879 and No. 257,810 on May 9, 1882 for his grain cooker or steamer. Wilmot Castle & Co., also of Rochester (founded by Wilmot Castle (1855-1941) in 1883 and incorporated as Wilmot Castle Co. in 1903), manufactured sterilizers and bacteriological apparatus for laboratory, medical, dental and hospital use as well as for the home. In keeping with Arnold's original intent, Wilmot Castle & Co. produced this device for culinary purposes, but they also produced "The Arnold Steam Sterilizer", which looked and functioned the same (see DL*251349.0192).
Raised, spiral-lobed, compressed globular teapot with Chinoiserie decoration, including a cast and applied S-curve dragon handle, S-curve spout springing from an inverted dragon's head at its base, and crabstock knop on the circular, hinged lid. Ten chased and repousse panels on body depict bamboo, chrysanthemums or peonies, flowering prunus branches and dragons, all on a finely-textured ground; Oriental scenes on two side panels feature a scholar in boat and two travellers on foot opposite a man with fan and three travellers riding a donkey. Thin ivory insulators. Body perforated at spout. Plain, flat bottom is struck on underside with two marks, "TC" and a Chinese ideogram, both in rounded rectangles. Part of a four-piece service, DL*62.0334A-D.
Angular teakettle with crooked gooseneck spout and cast-in arched ears at its high, creased shoulder for the mushroom-shaped strap bail handle, half-round in section; foot ring. Low-relief, cast decoration on spout and ears. Stepped and molded cover has a flared rim and brass button knop. Both pieces are hollow cast: cover has gate mark on underside; body has a horizontal seam that extends to top of spout and single gate mark on bottom exterior. Two, cast-in, oval medallions are on opposite sides of shoulder, one contains "J. SAVERY (arched) / & SON / NEW YORK (curved)" and the other "PHOENIX WORKS" above by a spreadwing phoenix rising from flames, all in raised serif letters; a raised "3" to left of spout.
Maker is John Savery & Son of New York, NY; in business under this name, circa 1838-1845. Their foundry, Phoenix Works, was located at Jersey City, NJ.
Squat, pear-shaped teapot with a shallow conical, inset, hinged lid topped by a cast leafy ball, and an S-curve spout and hollow, high D- or ear-shaped handle, both decorated with acanthus leaves and graduated beads or pearls. Body has a flat band at seam around belly; eight-lobed upper section and stepped, flat-bottomed lower section. Body is finely perforated at spout. Bottom underside is struck incuse "THE MIDDLETOWN PLATE CO." arched over cross-topped scales and "U.S.A."; incuse number "43" is below.
Maker is Middletown Plate Co. of Middletown, CT. Middletown Plate Co. was founded in 1864 and became a subsidiary of International Silver Co. in 1898; International continued to use the Middletown name and mark until at least 1921.
Floral repousse-decorated, squat baluster-shape teapot with flared, hinged lid topped by a cast mushroom-and-ball knop, an S-curve spout with split lip, and C-curve handle pinned into ivory insulators. A ruffled or pleated band is around lid and spout attachment, and long anthemion leaves are along spout and handle back. Body perforated at spout. Underside of flat bottom is engraved "JBW" in conjoined, shaded foliate script and struck with a small tower above "JACOBI & JENKINS / MAKERS / BALTIMORE" and "STERLING 9[25/]1[000] FINE". No centerpunch.
Circular spice box with scrolled hasp lock on front, gilt brass post-and-bail handle encircled by a raised bead, gold band and red penciling on low-domed lid, and one hinge at back; golden-brown japanned exterior and interior. Contains seven, identical, cylindrical tins with low-domed, friction-fit covers, each gilt stenciled with the name of their contents: "ALLSPICE", "CINNAMON", "CLOVES", "GINGER", "MACE", "NUTMEGS", and "PEPPER".
Oval half-length portrait of a blue-eyed, red-haired girl, turned and looking to the viewer's left. She wears a black tam o' shanter with a gray feather and a blue-and-green plaid scarf pinned on the left shoulder of her dark blue or black buttoned coat or cape. Cloudy blue sky background; light is from left. Signed at lower right. Housing includes a flat lens, bead-patterned flat bezel, and flat case with ring hanger attached at top of reverse; case reverse is also engraved "Janet Hobart Griggs / 1903" and struck "TIFFANY & C\o" at bottom. Hangs in a red velvet-covered display frame fitted to hold eight miniatures, 1989.0343.16-.23.
Round-sided, rectangular case with identical, repousse chased decoration on the inset, flat, snap-closure, hinged lid and flat bottom featuring an asymmetrical, opposed ruffled C-scroll reserve alongside a large, foliate, split scroll with smaller foliate scrolls and flowers elsewhere. Angled tab at lid front. Gold washed interior. Reserve on lid scratched "MV" at a later date. Two small hallmarks are struck within the design at end opposite the reserve on lid and next to the reserve on bottom, "AP" in raised sans serif letters in a notched rectangle and a right-facing Diana head (Dianakopf) with illegible number and letter in a five-petal flower.
Repousse chased, rectangular box with hinged lid featuring three scrolled reserves, the largest at center contains a vignette depicting two amorous couples and two putti in a garden or landscape, while those at sides have a tower or castle and a church with steeple. Bands of scroll-bordered floral reserves form the box sides, those at front and back additionally have a three C-scroll reserve with church at center. Gold washed interior. Bottom underside struck with a "V" and three-pellet motif, a partial sickle, and a goblet with four pellets.
Relief-decorated, oval, cylindrical container with friction-fit cover, the container engraved "KNR" in script on its flat shoulder. Side panels on container and top of cover feature a pastoral vignette of two women, one with book in her lap, sitting and listening to a man playing a lute in a garden. Container ends have three vertical panels, a buxom woman in corseted dress holding up her skirt at center flanked by military and musical trophies; the trophy panels are also used to form the cover sides. Underside of flat bottom is struck with an illegible pictorial mark, a conjoined "TS" flanked by pellets in shield and a sickle in circle.
Silver filigree, bail-handled, footed basket. Circular body consists of eight trapezoidal panels topped by 8-lobed fans or shells for the sides and a large circular flower for well; small spool shaft and low-domed circular foot are screwed to threaded rod attached to cable-bordered domed boss at center. Designs are outlined with thin, solid strips and embellished with smaller matching bosses. Hinged handle has a 6-petaled flower at bow, pointed ovals along sides and elongated drops for ends. No marks.
Art Nouveau, repoussé chased pentagonal dish with slightly convex, cinquefoil well; no footring. Flared sides and everted rim with downturned edge are segmented by five sinuous ribbons overrun by a wreath of wild roses open at one corner, leaving an empty reserve. No monogram. Underside of well struck incuse with circular mark for "THE VAN BERGH S.P.CO. (arched) / ROCHESTER, NY (curved)" enclosing "QUADRUPLE / PLATE", and "534" below. From a 7-piece set (one large and six small dishes) for serving bonbons ("sweets") or nuts, 1989.0184.11-.17.